Stocks rose for a fourth day, sending the benchmark index near a record level, after the government announced that the gross domestic product grew 6.5 percent in the second quarter.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 26 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 8,072.75 Thursday, the highest in more than a year or since it finished at 8,100.48 on July 27, 2016. It closed at an all-time high of 8,127.48 on April 10, 2015.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also gained 9 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,760.89, on a value turnover of P6.3 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 111 to 77, while 55 issues were unchanged.
Eleven of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Security Bank Corp. which advanced 2.4 percent to P261 and developer Ayala Land Inc. which rose 1.8 percent to P43.25. BDO Unibank Inc., the largest lender, went up 1.4 percent to P130.60.
Meanwhile, the peso closed at an 11-year low of 51.355 against the US dollar Thursday, despite the weakness of the greenback in Asian markets.
The greenback was hovering around 110 yen as safe haven assets were reinvigorated, with Asian equities treading water to broadly hold gains from a rally earlier in the week on easing tensions over North Korea.
The Nikkei ended marginally down with automakers and banks in retreat after Fed policymakers hinted at a slower pace of interest rate hikes at their July meeting, with Japanese shares also dragged lower by the stronger yen.
Some members of the US central bank argued it could afford to “be patient” before raising rates again, according to newly released minutes that showed policymakers focused on persistent weak inflation.
Hong Kong drifted lower in afternoon trade although market heavyweight Tencent was up more than two percent.
The tech giant, which owns hugely popular social media platform WeChat, beat expectations to report surging quarterly net profit to see its fastest revenue growth in seven years.
Stocks in Shanghai saw healthy gains, ahead of results from Chinese e-commerce leviathan Alibaba.
“USD weakness followed the release of [Fed] minutes that indicated ‘many’ members feared inflation will stay lower for longer,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
Wall Street on Wednesday shrugged off developments in Washington to rise above 22,000 even as Trump disbanded a pair of business advisory boards after several chief executives resigned over his widely criticized response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.
The dollar inched higher against the euro and pound in afternoon forex trade Thursday after the fresh turbulence in Washington had piled more pressure on the US unit.
“If you thought the president lacked the necessary key back room operators to implement the White House economic agenda, well things just got worse,” said Oanda’s Stephen Innes.
“Predictably the dollar sagged, and safe havens were back in vogue.”
Investors are now awaiting the latest European Central Bank minutes due later Thursday. Policymakers have signaled they are considering phasing out quantitative easing as the eurozone economy gathers pace.
On commodities markets, crude prices saw modest rises following a sharp decline overnight triggered as traders focused on Energy Information Administration data showing US production climbed to its highest level in more than two years, heightening worries about a supply glut. With AFP, Bloomberg