MANILA – The local bourse bounced back to above 7,200-mark on Thursday while the peso also appreciated following the monetary policy easing in the United States.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) increased 0.65 percent to 7,202.16, with All Shares improving by 0.62 percent to 3,871.68.

Except for Industrial which declined by 0.12 percent, all counters closed in the green territory led by Mining and Oil, which rose 2.43 percent. This was followed by Financials, up by 1.95 percent; Property, up by 0.93 percent; Services, up by 0.19 percent; and Holding Firms, up by 0.04 percent.

‘Philippine shares closed above the 7,200 mark on Thursday, buoyed by the Fed’s first rate cut in four years, lowering interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) to a range of 4.75 percent to 5 percent,’ Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.

‘Investors positively accepted the Federal Reserve’s 50 bps policy rate cut which is expected to give a big boost to the US’ economy. In addition, the market
cheered the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ plan to cut banks’ reserve requirement ratios substantially this year,’ Philstock Financials research manager Japhet Tantiangco added.

Advancers led decliners 113 to 78, leaving 62 counters unchanged.

Meanwhile, the Philippine peso gained Thursday by 0.11 against the US dollar to 55.61 from 55.72 the previous trading.

The local currency kicked off slightly weaker at 55.88 from Wednesday’s start of 55.80 to a dollar.

The currency pair traded between 55.56 and 55.92, bringing the average level for the day to 55.75 to the greenback.

Total volume of trade surged to USD1.99 billion from USD1.23 billion in the previous day.

Source: Philippines News agency