MANILA, Philippines — Philippine stocks rebounded into positive territory yesterday, shrugging off inflation concerns.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 6,746.33, up 86.28 points or 1.3 percent.
“Philippine shares ended the week on a positive note, despite concerns that the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes to counter rapid inflation would push the economy to the verge of recession,” Regina Capital said.
“Thursday’s move also came after showing that the US weekly jobless claims rose to 218,000 for the week ending May 14, hinting that economic growth is slowing,” it added.
The broader all shares index rallied 45.46 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 3,613.24. All sectoral gauges ended in the green as well.
Traders said investors already factored in the 25 basis points interest rate hike of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday amid high inflation in April.
Total value turnover reached P7.16 billion. Market breadth was positive, 131 to 62 while 43 issues were left unchanged.
Asian stock markets rose yesterday fter Wall Street fell closer to bear territory, China cut a key interest rate and Japanese inflation edged higher.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.6 percent on Thursday as rising interest rates, Russia’s war on Ukraine and a Chinese economic slowdown added to investor unease.
Core inflation, which excludes fresh food and energy, rose to a seven-year high of 2.1 percent from March’s 0.8 percent.
Despite that, economists say the central bank is unlikely to change interest rates due to the weakness of the economy, which contracted in the last quarter.
Investors are watching the Federal Reserve for hints of further interest rate hikes to cool inflation that is running at a four-decade high.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said this week the US central bank might take more aggressive action if price pressures fail to ease.