By Joann Villanueva
Improved sentiments, partly due to cooling trade-related concerns, allowed the Philippines’ main stocks gauge to rise on the third consecutive day and this performance was mirrored by the peso during the day.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended Friday up by 0.45 percent, or 35.28 points, to 7,933.47 points, which Regina Capital Managing Director Luis Limlingan traced to “expectations of a de-escalation in trade tensions” on reports that high ranking officials from US and China are set to meet next month.
The scheduled meeting early next month gave investors renewed hopes after US and Chinese officials failed to agree on a trade deal after several meetings in the past months, economists say.
Reports that US companies added 195,000 jobs in August also lifted sentiments, Limlingan added.
With risk appetite up, All Shares also ended the week on better level after it rose 0.22 percent, or 10.74 points, to 4,785.02 points.
Property posted the highest increase among the sectors at 1.54 percent and was followed by Services, 1.16 percent; Industrial, 0.20 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.04 percent.
However, Mining and Oil dropped 1.15 percent and Financials, 0.64 percent.
Volume reached 2.1 billion shares amounting to P7.65 billion.
Advancers led decliners at 96 to 91 while 46 shares were unchanged.
Relatively, the peso finished the week at P51.905 against the US dollar from Thursday’s P52.01.
It opened the day at P51.95, weaker compared to its P51.885 start in the previous session.
It traded between P51.85 and P52.055 resulting in an average of P51.959.
Volume is almost flat compared to the previous day’s $1.45 billion.