Stock index up, peso sideways vs. US dollar

The main stocks index finished the week up partly on the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) rebalancing while the peso ended sideways against the US dollar.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.89 percent, or 64.40 points, to 7,297.66 points.

All Shares followed with a jump of 0.40 percent, or 15.48 points, to 3,851.59 points.

Most of the sectoral counters also ended the week on a positive note – Holding Firms, 1.46 percent; Property, 0.87 percent; Services, 0.81 percent; and Financials, 0.10 percent.

On the other hand, Mining and Oil shed 0.57 percent and Industrial, 0.02 percent.

Volume reached 3.08 billion shares amounting to PHP14.5 billion.

Decliners led advancers at 92 to 89, while 47 shares were unchanged.

“The PSEi regained traction ahead of its peers in line with the FTSE rebalancing and on the news that the detected Omicron cases have been isolated,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. (RCDC) head of sales.

Limlingan said the Department of Health’s report on no additional Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the country, aside from the two reported earlier, “is another market pushing factor seen in yesterday’s market performance.”

Meanwhile, the peso finished the day at 50.02, sideways from its 49.96 finish the previous day.

It opened the day at 49.95 and traded between 50.04 and 49.89, averaging at 49.964.

Volume totaled USD900.65 million, higher than the previous session’s USD826.63 million. (PNA)