Nudged by cooling US inflation, PSEi moves closer to 6,700

The benchmark index’s march toward 6,700 continued on the last trading day of the week as cooling inflation in the United States energized investors at home.

By the closing bell, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) added 0.59 percent, or 38.99 points, to end at 6,648.23. Meanwhile, the broader All Shares Index climbed by 0.58 percent, or 20.54 points, to 3,576.22.

Still, trading volume was thin as investors stayed on the sidelines, with market value turnover hitting just P3.92 billion, lower than the P4.96-billion year-to-date average, according to trading platform Philstocks Financial Inc.

Foreigners made net purchases worth P257.15 million to help lift the bourse.

Luis Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development Corp., said traders got “more reassurance” that the Federal Reserve would likely cut interest rates after US inflation cooled to 3 percent in June from 3.3 percent in May.

Investors have been closely eyeing inflation and monetary policies abroad since these typically influence the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ rate stance.

Service-focused firms led the gainers with a 1.64-percent increase, buoyed by Razon-led International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) and Manuel V. Pangilinan-led PLDT Inc.

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BDO Unibank Inc., the banking arm of the SM Group, was the top-traded stock as it went down by 0.07 percent to P143.70 each.

It was followed by ICTSI, up 2.22 percent to P368; Aboitiz Equity Ventures, down 2.03 percent to P36.20; Ayala Land Inc., up 0.34 percent to P29.60; and PLDT, up 2.15 percent to P1,565 per share.

Other actively traded stocks were SM Investments Corp., up 1.15 percent to P880; SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 1.03 percent to P29.30; Robinsons Land Corp., up 0.14 percent to P14.26; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 0.66 percent to P122.70; and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., up 2.18 percent to P67.90.