THE peso started the week weaker while the stock market rebounded sharply ahead of today’s release of September inflation data.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped 114.18 points or 2.03 percent to close at 5,743.21, recovering from last week’s sell-off as investors hunted for bargains.
The peso, however, weakened by 8.6 centavos to close at P62.621 to the dollar, a result Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed to a stronger greenback.
Philstocks Financial Inc. research manager Japhet Tantiangco said stock market investors took advantage of lower valuations after the PSEi’s five-day decline, while positive cues from Wall Street also supported the rebound.
He added that Wall Street’s recent gains, driven by a tempered hawkish outlook for the Federal Reserve following a weaker-than-expected jobs report, also helped.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales, said buying pressure emerged, particularly among index heavyweights, as investors took advantage of relatively cheaper valuations.
“Sentiment was also supported as investors likely positioned ahead of tomorrow’s (today’s) inflation print release,” he added.
The Philippine Statistics Authority is scheduled to release the September inflation report on Tuesday. Headline inflation stood at 6.1 percent in August.
Despite the sharp rebound, trading remained anemic, with net value turnover at P3.28 billion, excluding extraordinary block sales. Foreign investors were net buyers, posting P134.20 million in net inflows, Tantiangco said.
The broader market ended with 95 decliners against 85 gainers and 77 unchanged issues.
Services led gainers, rising four percent, while banks were the only sector to decline, edging down 0.07 percent.
