PSEi Advances Amid Regional Gains; Philippine Peso Declines

Manila, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) experienced growth on Monday, mirroring the gains in other Asian markets, while the Philippine peso faced a decline against the US dollar.

According to Philippines News Agency, assistant research manager at Philstock Financials, Inc., the PSEi was positively influenced by the preceding performance of US markets and local investor optimism about potential interest rate cuts by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in the latter half of the year. The local index rose by 0.97 percent to close at 6,682.78 points, with all sectors showing improvement from the previous week. The Mining and Oil sector led the gains, surging by 4.95 percent to 9,718.50 points. This was followed by increases in the Financials sector by 1.68 percent, Services by 1.48 percent, Industrials by 0.78 percent, Property by 0.51 percent, and Holding Firms by 0.28 percent.

Market activity showed that gainers outnumbered losers, with 122 stocks advancing and 22 declining, while 42 remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, the Philippine peso weakened, closing at 57.90 against the US dollar, down from 57.62 the previous week. The peso opened the day at 57.68, a slight drop from Friday’s opening of 57.53, and fluctuated between 57.68 and 57.90 throughout the trading day, averaging 57.67.

Trading volume on the exchange decreased, with transactions totaling USD 1.21 billion, down from USD 1.76 billion on Friday.