The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 11.79 points, or 0.20 percent on Tuesday, but still failed to lift the local bourse back to the 6,000-level. The PSEi kicked off the week’s shortened trading at 5,973.78 level with All Shares also increasing by 7.7 points, or 0.24 percent, to 3,254.17. Two out of six counters -Industrial and Mining and Oil- ended in the negative territory while Property led the gainers, with Financials, Holding Firms and Services. Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar said bargain hunting supported the local index on Tuesday after two straight days of shedding. Alviar said net market value stood at PHP3.9 billion. ‘Notable performers among index members include Alliance Global, Inc. gaining 4.54 percent (to) PHP10.60, while Monde Nissin Corp. found itself at the bottom with a loss of 3.64 percent (to) PHP8.20,’ she added. Meanwhile, the peso strengthened to 56.73 to a US dollar from 56.96 closing last Friday. The currency pair opened the day trading at 56.80 from last week’s start of 56.90. The peso traded between a low of 56.73 and a high of 56.86, bringing the average level for the day at 56.81 to the greenback. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the rosy outlook on remittance toward the Christmas season and the lower global oil prices have supported the peso trading on Tuesday. ‘The markets expect the seasonal increase in OFW remittances and conversion to pesos in (the) fourth quarter, especially in the latter part of (the year) towards the Christmas season, a consistent pattern seen for many years or decades,’ Ricafort added. The volume of trade declined to USD860.9 million from USD1.65 billion last week.
Source: Philippines News Agency
