US Fed’s policy route worries local investors
MANILA, Philippines — With the US Federal Reserve’s policy direction looming in the background, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) failed to reclaim 6,900 on Monday as investors remained anxious.
By the closing bell, the benchmark index rose by 0.45 percent, or 30.97 points, to 6,853.29, while the broader All Shares index climbed 0.29 percent, or 10.43 points, to 3,570.89.
A total of 2.21 billion shares valued at P6.3 billion changed hands, data from the stock exchange showed.
Philstocks Financial Inc. research analyst Claire Alviar said that while the 2.7-percent growth in cash remittances in January provided optimism, “investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting this week.”
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The Fed’s meeting on Wednesday would determine whether recent higher-than-expected inflation data could move planned rate cuts to the latter part of the year.
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Banking stocks saw an increase of 2.95 percent, buoyed by Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) as it rallied by 6.83 percent to P66.50 per share. Metrobank was also the top traded stock.
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Other subsectors rose by less than 1 percent, while holding firms and services declined by 0.40 percent and 1.05 percent, respectively.
BDO Unibank Inc., up 3.38 percent to P153 per share, was next after Metrobank; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 1.77 percent to P120.50; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 2.48 percent to P307.20; and Ayala Corp., down 0.23 percent to P660 per share.
SM Investments Corp. went down by 0.10 percent to P980 per share; Aboitiz Power Corp., down 4.58 percent to P37.50; Universal Robina Corp., down 1.97 percent to P104.70; Aboitiz Equity Ventures, down 1.85 percent to P47.80; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 0.80 percent to P31.50 per share.
Overall, there were 101 advancers against 97 losers, while 39 companies closed unchanged, data from the stock exchange also showed. INQ
