Local stocks rose for the second straight day Friday, as August inflation came in within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) target range.
The main Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped 42.21 points, or 0.69 percent, to end the week at 6,149.13. The broader all-shares index also ended higher, by 14.79 points, or 0.40 percent, to 3,692.71.
The peso strengthened slightly to 56.915 against the US dollar from 56.98 on Thursday.
Bank of the Philippine Islands chief economist Emilio Neri said “inflation will likely remain manageable” for the rest of the year, even though the August inflation rate accelerated to 1.5 percent from 0.9 percent in July.
Year-to-date, average inflation stands at 1.7 percent, which is within the BSP’s full-year inflation target of 2 percent to 4 percent.
Analysts said stock prices also advanced after US stocks rose to new highs as investors expected the US Federal Reserve to cut rates during its policy meeting this month.
“Markets are clearly rallying beneath the surface of shifting policy expectations and positioning,” said Luis Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp.
Among the sectors, only the financial index ended in the red, declining by 0.07 percent. The services index climbed the most, up 1.51 percent, followed by mining and oil, which rose 1.23 percent.
Value turnover slightly improved to P5.6 billion as foreign investors turned into net buyers with inflows of P100.4 million.
Market breadth was negative, with 102 decliners and 95 gainers, while 60 stocks were unchanged.
Ty-led GT Capital Holdings Inc. was the day’s top index gainer, increasing by 2.96 percent to P678, while Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. was the main index laggard, falling by 3 percent to P69.50.
