Inflation hopes push PSEI past 7,400
Local shares managed to close above 7,400 on Wednesday as investors await the country’s latest inflation data, which is expected to be slower on cheaper food and oil.
By the end of the session, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) added 0.3 percent, or 22.49 points, to 7,402.81.
Meanwhile, the broader All Shares Index gained 0.19 percent, or 7.5 points, to 3,970.86.
A total of 1.16 billion shares worth P4.33 billion changed hands as foreigners made net purchases worth P540.10 million, stock exchange data showed.
Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc., said the bourse’s gain was due to continued optimism over the projected cooler inflation rate in September.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has said that inflation last month may have settled between 2 and 2.8 percent from 3.3 percent in August.
Luis Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development Corp., also noted that traders were anticipating another rate cut this month.
Razon-led International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the most actively traded stock as it gained by 2.92 percent to P416.20 per share.
It was followed by Globe Telecom Inc., up 1.25 percent to P2,430; Ayala Land Inc., flat at P37.50; BDO Unibank Inc., up 2.23 percent to P160.80; and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., down 0.31 percent to P80 each.
Other actively traded stocks were SM Investments Corp., up 1.02 percent to P987; China Banking Corp., up 5.26 percent to P56; JG Summit Holdings, up 0.54 percent to P27.95; Ayala Corp., down 0.51 percent to P685; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 0.51 percent to P137.80 each.
Losers outnumbered gainers, 114 to 91, while 56 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data showed.
