BSP rate hike rouses PSEi; buyers snap up ICTSI

MANILA  -The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) reclaimed the 6,600 level on Friday after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) delivered an expected 25-basis point interest rate hike, while buying pressure pushed up billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.’s International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI).

By the closing bell, the PSEi climbed 1.01 percent, or 65.81 points, to 6,602.17 while the broader All Shares index added 0.69 percent, or 23.95 points, to 3,516.72.

“Investors resumed… bargain hunting after the [Monetary Board’s] rate hike announcement [on Thursday] afternoon. In line with consensus, the MB raised the benchmark rate by another 25 basis points to 6.25 percent,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said in a note to investors on Friday.

ICTSI rallied over 6 percent during the session, pushing up the services subsector by 2.33 percent.

Holding firms rose 1.14 percent, followed by industrial, up 0.92 percent; property, up 0.39 percent; and financials, up 0.15 percent. Mining and oil slipped lower by 0.24 percent.

A total of 627.1 million shares valued at P4.68 billion changed hands while foreigners were net buyers of an amount totaling P569.11 million, stock exchange data showed.

ICTSI was the top traded stock as it ended at P213.20 per share.

Bank of the Philippine Islands was down 3.79 percent to P101.50; SM Investments Corp., up 0.56 percent to P905; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., flat at P34.

Overall, there were 102 advancers against 82 losers while 43 companies closed unchanged.

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