The local stock barometer edged higher for the second straight trading day ahead of Thursday’s Monetary Board policy meeting.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 14.91 points, or 0.25 percent, to 6,098.74, while the wider all shares index climbed 11.43 points, or 0.31 percent, to 3,684.65.
The peso further strengthened to 57.95 against the U.S. dollar Wednesday from 58.1 on Tuesday.
“The PSEi continued to move upward as buying pressure supported the market’s momentum,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
“Investors remained optimistic ahead of the BSP’s upcoming interest rate decision, taking cues from the latest inflation data, which came in below the central bank’s target range,” he said.
Citi, however, expects the BSP to pause in the October policy meeting.
“Looking ahead, macro data so far shows a mixed picture on growth, which probably will lead BSP to pause in the Oct. policy meeting. PHP underperformance, and its potential inflation impact, may also be an additional hurdle to cut,” Citi said.
Four of six sectoral indexes ended higher. Mining and oil jumped 4.91 percent as gold prices hit a new all-time high. Services also went up by 2.10 percent.
On the other hand, financials declined by 1.09 percent and property by 0.57 percent.
Market turnover amounted to P5.24 billion. Market breadth was positive with 94 gainers versus 92 decliners, with 65 stocks closing unchanged.
Jenniffer B. Austria
Gold prices broke $4,000 on Wednesday for the first time as investors piled into the safe haven over expectations for US interest rate cuts and worries over the US government shutdown.
The rally in the precious metal also came after concerns that a tech-fueled rally that has sent some equity markets to record highs may have gone too far, fanning talk of an asset bubble.
Traders have been piling into gold all year, pushing it up more than 50 percent since the start of 2025, on the back of a range of issues including global economic uncertainty, Donald Trump’s trade war and geopolitical crises.
Its allure was increased further this week by political turmoil in France, where the prime minister resigned and President Emmanuel Macron’s former premier urged him to resign and call early elections.
Gold — long considered a go-to in times of uncertainty — climbed to a high of $4,039.86 on Wednesday, even as the dollar has pushed up against most of its peers in recent days. Silver was also within a few dollars of its own record high.
The closure of parts of the US government is adding to the sense of unease among investors, with key economic data, including on jobs, being postponed and muddying the waters for the Federal Reserve as it tries to decide on its rate plans.
“The rapid rise in gold prices has been supported by rising inflows into (exchange-traded funds) and central bank buying, including solid demand from China, as gold benefits from political, economic, and inflation uncertainty,” wrote Taylor Nugent at National Australia Bank.
And Pepperstone’s Chris Weston said, “funds and global reserve managers want a hedge — against fiscal recklessness, currency debasement, and unpredictable government policy — and gold sits squarely at the heart of that movement”.
– AI party sobers up –
While gold traders were busy pushing the metal ever higher, equity markets were more subdued in Asia as questions were asked about the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been invested in artificial intelligence.
The AI boom has seen some indexes and companies hit record highs, with chip titan Nvidia topping a $4 trillion valuation.
But a report that software firm Oracle’s cloud computing profit margin was much lower than expected sent shivers through trading floors, with all three main indexes on Wall Street falling into the red.
“In a market priced for perfection, any delay in cash flow — even a temporary one — feels like the bartender calling ‘last call’,” wrote Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
“Traders didn’t wait for clarification; they simply started easing out of their positions. The Oracle story didn’t crash the party, but it definitely sobered it.”
Tech firms, which have enjoyed strong buying this year and in recent months, led selling in Asia, with Alibaba and JD.com down in Hong Kong, TSMC dropping in Taipei and Renesas sharply lower in Tokyo.
Hong Kong and Taipei were among the biggest losers, while Sydney and Singapore also fell.
Tokyo dropped after a strong start to the week, fueled by optimism that the election of business-friendly conservative Sanae Takaichi as the ruling party’s leader will see more stimulus measures and a fresh push for monetary easing.
Wellington, Manila, Bangkok, Mumbai and Jakarta edged up with London, Paris and Frankfurt. With AFP
