Philippine stocks closed slightly above the 6,300 level Monday on higher dollar remittances for the month of January 2025.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 12.08 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 6,306.19, while the broader all-shares index added 1.22 points, or 0.03 percent, to reach 3,722.82.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that funds sent by overseas Filipinos in January grew 2.9 percent year-on-year to $2.92 billion. However, this was lower than the record $3.3 billion posted in December 2024.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the PSEi continued to gain, after recent political noises remained manageable so far.
“However, as a matter of prudence, the markets could still be on a wait-and-see mode if there would be risk of political noises for as long as there are no large protest rallies and no other forms of destabilization/disruptions that could distract the government from more important priorities,” Ricafort said.
Other positive factors for the PSEi include the declining global crude prices and strengthening of the peso against the dollar.
Among the sectoral indices, only the services and holding firms ended in the green, rising 1.57 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively.
Mining and oil declined by 0.65 percent, property by 0.60 percent, industrial by 0.36 percent and financials by 0.26 percent.
Value turnover reached P4.8 billion.
Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. rose 3.83 percent to P17.34 percent after it reported an 18.8-percent increase in 2024 net income.
BDO Unibank Inc.’s share declined 1.21 percent to P163.