Philippine shares opened the week higher Monday, driven by a dovish monetary outlook from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The peso closed at 56.685 to the U.S. dollar Monday, weaker than its Friday close of 56.4.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 29.67 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 6,425.24. The broader all-shares index climbed 15.22 points, or 0.40 percent, to 3,779.93.
“The local market closed higher backed by dovish expectations on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ policy outlook following June’s weak inflation print,” said Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc.Tantiangco added that investors also considered the U.S. decision to move the reciprocal tariff implementation to Aug. 1 for countries that have not yet reached a trade deal.
Most sectoral indices closed in positive territory, with the financial sector leading the way, advancing 0.88 percent. Property also rose 0.74 percent. Mining and oil, however, dropped 2.32 percent.
Value turnover reached P6.93 billion. Foreigners were net buyers, with net inflows at P107.24 million.
Puregold Price Club Inc. was the top index gainer, climbing 3.27 percent to P36.30. Globe Telecom Inc. was at the bottom, declining 3.87 percent to P1,639.00.
Asian equities struggled Monday as countries fought to hammer out trade deals days before Donald Trump’s tariff deadline, with the US president saying he would begin sending letters to some capitals outlining the rates he had decided upon.
While the White House has said several deals were in the pipeline, only two have been finalized ahead of the July 9 cut-off set by Trump.
Governments from major trading partners including Japan, India, the European Union and South Korea have fought for the past three months to get agreements. Jenniffer B. Austria with AFP
