Manila: The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended Monday up, reversing its negative close at the end of last week, and the local currency ended the day sideways against the greenback.
According to Philippines News Agency, the local bourse's main index rose 0.24 percent to 6,052.33 points, but the broader All Shares declined by 0.08 percent. Most of the sectoral gauges ended in the red, namely Industrial, 1.22 percent; Property, 0.43 percent; Holding Firms, 0.20 percent; Financials, 0.11 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil rose 2.29 percent, and Services, 2.01 percent.
Volume reached 1.96 billion, amounting to PHP4.92 billion. Decliners led advancers at 121 to 76, while 52 shares remained unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said the main index "opened the week in positive territory despite persistent trade uncertainties between the US and China that weighed on global markets." "The index's resilience was likely driven by bargain hunting, while investor sentiment was further lifted by the appreciation of the Philippine peso against the US dollar," he said in a market report.
On the other hand, the Philippine peso finished the day's trade little changed against the US dollar at 58.245 from 58.24 Friday last week. It opened the day at 58.22, an improvement from its 58.4 start in the previous session. It traded between 58.12 and 58.26, resulting in an average of 58.19. Volume increased to nearly USD1.66 billion from USD1.41 billion at the end of last week.
