COURTESY OF PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE, INC.

STOCKS closed the week in the green after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) kept benchmark interest rates at record lows and as the country received more coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines.   

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed 64.51 points or 0.93% to close at 6,950.51 on Friday, while the all shares index gained 29.69 points or 0.7% to 4,229.58.   

“[The] market [is] looking forward to reopening given greater vaccine supply and better growth prospects also assured by [the] continuation of BSP accommodative policy despite the Fed taper and still elevated local inflation,” First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang said in a Viber message.   

“Philippine shares made another climb once again towards the 7,000 level after the new infrastructure framework drafted by a partisan group of US senators roused the market and after the conclusion of the latest BSP meeting,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a separate Viber message on Friday.  

The BSP kept its key interest rate at a record low for a fifth straight meeting on Thursday, as it vowed to maintain an accommodative stance to support economic recovery. 

The central bank left the rate on the overnight reverse repurchase facility at 2%, as widely expected by 14 of 16 analysts in a BusinessWorld poll last week. 

Interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were also kept at 1.5% and 2.5%, respectively. 

Meanwhile, two million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical Sinovac Biotech Ltd. were delivered on Thursday.   

On the other hand, in the United States, senators reached a bipartisan agreement for a $579-billion infrastructure package. 

Back home, all sectoral indices posted gains on Friday. Services went up by 21.89 points or 1.4% to 1,583.55; mining and oil climbed by 95.44 points or 1.03% to 9,322.39; holding firms improved by 65.86 points 0.95% to end at 6,931.29; property rose by 21.98 points or 0.64% to 3,415.61; financials inched up by 3,415.61 or 0.6% to 1,500.37; and industrials improved by 37.34 points or 0.39% to close at 9,542.4.   

Value turnover increased to P6.55 billion with 2.54 billion shares switching hands on Friday, from the P6.48 billion with 4.36 billion shares traded the previous day.   

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 118 against 88, while 44 names closed unchanged.  

Net foreign selling dropped to P228.39 million from the P912.22 million seen the previous day. 

FMIC’s Ms. Ulang said she expects the PSEi to test 7,000 next week. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte 

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