Manila: The Philippine peso rebounded to the 58-level against the US dollar on Wednesday, boosting the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).
According to Philippines News Agency, the local currency finished the day at 58.74, a day after faltering to 59.08 in the last six trading sessions. It opened stronger at 58.85 from Tuesday's 59.05 close and traded between 58.69 and 58.90, averaging 58.83. Volume rose to USD1.46 billion from the previous day's USD1 billion.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the peso's performance to the 'sharp decline in the US dollars vs. major global currencies since the start of this week to near four-year lows,' following the statement of US President Donald Trump that he is not concerned about the recent depreciation of the greenback. Ricafort said improvement of gold prices in the international market due in part to geopolitical developments overseas also helped the local currency, noting that gold is an alternative investment option to the US dollar.
The peso's performance benefited the PSEi, which ended the day up by 0.78 percent to 6,355.78 points. All Shares also rose and ended the day at 3,597.04 points, up 0.45 percent. Most of the sectoral indices also gained during the day, led by Services, which rose 2.53 percent. It was trailed by the Mining and Oil, 2.23 percent; Financials, 0.39 percent; and Industrial, 0.23 percent. Volume reached 1.58 billion shares amounting to PHP7.53 billion. Decliners led advancers at 106 to 102 while 54 shares were unchanged.
