Index breaches 8,000 as BSP retains key rates

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market returned to the 8,000 mark yesterday after the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by  58.70 points or 0.73 percent to close at 8,013.42

Likewise, the broader All Shares index gained 24.52 points, or 0.50 percent, to finish at 4,913.31.

Except for one, all other indices ended in the green with the services and holding firms among the biggest gainers.

Total value turnover was also robust at P7.605 billion and market breadth was positive, 116 to 77 while 50 stocks were unchanged.

The recovery of the market followed the move of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep rates steady for the meantime even as it recognized risks to economic growth due to the failure of Congress to pass the 2019 national budget.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno, despite being open about his bias toward a rate cut, said the Monetary Board has decided to keep the overnight reverse repurchase rate at 4.75 percent, the overnight deposit rate at 4.25 percent and overnight lending rate at 5.25 percent.

The decision to keep benchmark rates on hold for the third straight rate-setting meeting since December was due to the slowing down in inflation which is now expected to ease  back to the central bank’s two to four percent target for both 2019 and 2020.