PSEi back at 6,400 level as US, China hold talks
PHILIPPINE STOCKS eked out gains on Monday to bring the bellwether back above the 6,400 mark as investors remain optimistic on the latest round of trade talks between the United States and China.
The main Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.46% or 29.34 points to close at 6,406.13, while the broader all shares index increased by 0.19% or 7.37 points to 3,786.59.
“The local market advanced on the back of hopes that the upcoming US-China trade talks in London would be productive and would eventually lead to better relations between the two,” Philstocks Financial Inc. Research Manager Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.
“Hopes of policy easing by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in their meeting next week also helped in the climb,” he added.
Top US and Chinese officials were set to sit down in London on Monday for talks aimed at defusing the high-stakes trade dispute between the two superpowers that has widened in recent weeks beyond tit-for-tat tariffs to export controls over goods and components critical to global supply chains, Reuters reporters.
At a still-undisclosed venue in London, the two sides will try to get back on track with a preliminary agreement struck last month in Geneva that had briefly lowered the temperature between Washington and Beijing and fostered relief among investors battered for months by US President Donald J. Trump’s cascade of tariff orders since his return to the White House in January.
Meanwhile, analysts expect the BSP to cut rates by 25 basis points for a second straight meeting at its June 19 review after headline inflation slowed to an over five-year low of 1.3% in May.
“Philippine shares crossed over the 6,400 mark once again to start the shortened trading week as investors gear up for market-making data ahead,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan added in a Viber message. “In the Philippines, all eyes turn to Friday’s foreign direct investment release, which will offer insight into investor sentiment and capital inflows amid ongoing macro reforms.”
Philippine financial markets are closed on June 12 (Thursday) for Independence Day.
Sectoral indices were mixed. Holding firms climbed by 1.15% or 62.64 points to 5,501.58; services went up by 1.15% or 25.36 points to 2,229.22; and financials increased by 0.61% or 14.35 points to 2,364.09.
Meanwhile, mining and oil declined by 3.7% or 366.37 points to 9,523.15; property sank by 0.81% or 18.64 points to 2,270.76; and industrials fell by 0.44% or 39.75 points to 8,914.
Value turnover went down to P5.07 billion on Monday with 1.08 billion shares traded from the P6.31 billion with 912.52 million issues that changed hands on Thursday.
Decliners outnumbered advancers, 117 versus 85, while 50 names were unchanged.
Net foreign selling reached P205.02 million on Monday, a turnaround from the P85.99 million in net buying recorded on Thursday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave with Reuters
