PSEi ends week strong after BSP halts rate hikes

MANILA  -The Monetary Board holding off interest rate adjustments encouraged investors to buy shares on Friday, allowing the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to end the week in the green.

The benchmark PSEi rose by 0.54 percent, or 35.91 points, to close at 6,664.55 while the All Shares index climbed by 0.39 percent, or 13.73 points, to settle at 3,548.37.

Effects of BSP’s latest policy

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said shares were “bought up during the last trading day of the week as investors cheered for the BSP’s (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) latest policy decision.”

On Thursday, the BSP announced it would keep the policy rate at 6.25 percent amid lower inflation projection for the year.

https://business.inquirer.net/401524/bsp-keeps-policy-rate-at-6-25

Claire Alviar, Philstocks Financial Inc. assistant manager for research and online engagement, said foreign investors also boosted trading with a net inflow of P298.74 million.

Except for industrial and service

All the subsectors were in the green except for the industrial and service indices, which fell by 0.09 percent and 0.22 percent, respectively. Financials gained the most with a 1.34-percent uptick.

About 21.32 billion shares amounting to P5.77 billion were traded. Advancers and decliners were tied, 84 to 84, while 65 issues were unchanged.

The shares of BDO Unibank Inc., the most actively traded, increased by 2.56 percent to P140 each.

This was followed by Apollo Global Capital Inc., down 6.67 percent to P0.028; SM Prime Holdings, up 0.74 percent to P34.05; Ayala Corp., up 1.61 percent to P694; Ayala Land Inc., down 0.91 percent to P27.10; and PLDT Inc., up 1.41 percent to P1,293.

Other active names were Universal Robina Corp., down 1.20 percent to P148.50; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 0.48 percent to P105.50; SM Investments Corp., up 0.22 percent to P929; and Metro Pacific Investment Corp., up 1.36 percent to P4.47.