he Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rebounded on Thursday after days in the negative territory as investors set aside concerns over the Omicron coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) variant, a performance mirrored by the peso.
The main equities index rose by 1.81 percent, or 128.86 points, to 7,248.05 points.
It was trailed by all other gauges, with All Shares up by 1.09 percent, or 41.23 points, to 3,838.45 points.
Holding Firms led the sectoral indexes after it rose by 2.63 percent, followed by Property, 2.19 percent; Mining and Oil, 1.28 percent; Financials, 0.82 percent; Industrial, 0.67 percent; and Services, 0.66 percent.
Volume reached 851.1 million shares amounting to PHP4.61 billion.
Advancers led decliners at 115 to 58, while 49 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales, attributed the PSEi’s improvement to investors’ decision to “momentarily brush aside fears from the spreading of the Omicron variant.”
He said investors have been grappling with the fear of the fast-spreading Omicron variant, surging inflation, and the end of ultra-easy monetary policy.
“The consensus expects lower returns and a bumpier road ahead after a strong year that saw the S&P 500 gain about 25 percent,” he added.
Limlingan also attributed the positive sentiments in the local bourse during the day partly to the news saying the US’ White House has decided to resume talks on a major social spending bill with Senator Joe Manchin.
Meanwhile, the local currency finished the day’s trade at 50.045 to the US dollar, an improvement from its 50.19 close a day ago.
It opened the day at 50.14 and traded between 50.188 and 50.04, averaging at 50.118.
Volume reached USD848.27 million, lower than the previous session’s USD1.06 billion.
Source: Philippines News Agency
