The Manila Times

Stock market nears 6,800; peso up anew

ED PAOLO SALTING AND EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

THE stock market and the peso continued to strengthen on Tuesday with the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rocketing past 6,700 and the currency again hitting a near threemonth high.

Last-minute bargain-hunting saw the PSEi adding 99.31 points, or 1.49 percent, to close at 6,780.78, while the broader All Shares also jumped by 32.81 points (0.94 percent) to 3,513.98.

The peso, meanwhile, gained 8 centavos to close at P56.56:$1. The last time it finished stronger was on September 1 when it hit P56.42 to the dollar.

“So far, optimism persists in the market amid improving investors’ sentiment. We are seeing support at 6,600 while the immediate resistance is at 6,800 levels,” said Claire Alviar, research associate at Philstocks Financial Inc.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort, meanwhile, said the index gained “as concerns eased over the protests in China due to heavy security presence that prevented a repeat of the demonstrations seen in some cities over the weekend.”

“The PSEI was also higher after the 5-year Treasury bond average

auction yield at 6.568 percent eased, down by 0.573 vs 7.131 percent in the previous 5-year auction on Nov. 8, 2022,” he added.

Also contributing, Ricafort continued, were an expected seasonal increase in revenues, Standard and Poors’ raising of its Philippine growth outlook and a House of Representatives panel approving a government rightsizing bill.

Peso trading opened at P56.7 and ranged from P56.5 to P56.72. The total volume for the day was $1.030.19 billion, higher than the $806.9 million in the previous trading.

At the stock market, meanwhile, over 2.23 billion shares worth P23.47 billion were transacted.

Sectors were mixed with the properties leading gainers, advancing by 3.57 percent, while industrials, and mining and oil closed in the red, losing 0.77 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively.

Decliners edged advancers, 103 to 88, while 42 remained unchanged.

Business Times

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2022-11-30T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-30T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281840057684917

The Manila Times