Easing Inflation Boosts Philippine Stock Market

The local stock market extended its winning streak as easing inflation in June boosted sentiment. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed by 0.37 percent or 23.12 points, finishing yesterday’s session at 6,247.11. The broader All Shares index also inched up by 0.11 percent or 3.89 points to end at 3,392.86. “Philippine equities notched another gain as investors celebrated the improved June headline inflation print,” First Metro Securities said. The Philippine Statistics Authority yesterday reported that inflation eased for the second straight month to 6.4 percent in June from 6.8 percent in May, driven by slower increases in transport and food costs. This brought the average inflation in the first half to 4.8 percent, still above the two to four percent target band set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. However, Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said that while investors cheered the decline in inflation, trading remained tepid with net value turnover at P5.33 billion, noting that many still chose to remain on the sidelines. Tantiangco said foreigners were net buyers with net inflows at P770.42 million. “Although turnover reached P5.69 billion, the index surrendered part of its gains after touching an intraday high of 6,297.46 late in the morning,” First Metro Securities said. Sectors were mixed, with those in the red having the slight upper hand. Services posted the biggest gain at 2.76 percent, while holding firms incurred the biggest loss at 1.28 percent. Decliners overpowered advancers, 97 to 82, while 61 issues were unchanged. ICTSI was the session’s top traded stock, soaring by 3.97 percent to P930 per share, followed by BDO Unibank, which grew by 0.55 percent to P127.70, and BPI which was unchanged at P104.