Stocks up, peso falls to 19-month low

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market sustained Friday’s momentum opening on a high note yesterday as investors shopped for bargains. The peso meanwhile, retreated to a 19-month low against the greenback.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index advanced for a second consecutive session, rising by 0.59 percent or 37.64 points to close at 6,470.74, while the broader All Shares index likewise grew by 0.21 percent or 7.18 points to settle at 3,471.05.

Claire Alviar of Philstocks Financial said the local bourse gained as investors continued to hunt for bargains following last week’s decline near the 6,400 support level.

“Overseas, China’s strong May factory activity, which expanded at 51.7, its fastest pace in nearly two years and beat estimates, lifted the sentiment in the region, including the Philippines,” she said.

“The local bourse opened the week positively despite a slight dip in the S&P PMI for May, which fell to 51.9 from 52.2 in April. Investors now await the Philippine CPI release on June 5,” Regina Capital’s Luis Limlingan said separately.

Net market value turnover opened the week strong at P5.18 billion.

The sectoral gauges were a mixed bag, with financials posting the largest gain at 3.19 percent, while services suffered the biggest loss at 1.6 percent.

Market breadth was negative as decliners edged out advancers, 103 to 90, while 45 issues were unchanged.

Meanwhile, the peso slumped further to its weakest level in 19 months yesterday, depreciating by 17 centavos to close at 58.68 to $1 from Friday’s 58.51 to $1, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

This marked the peso’s worst finish since its 58.8 to $1 close on Nov. 3, 2022. Year to date, the peso depreciated by P3.31 or 5.6 percent from the 55.37 to $1 finish in 2023.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the peso weakened yesterday due to softer local manufacturing data and a wider hot money outflow in April from the previous month.