Manila: The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rallied for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday partly on the recovery of the Philippine peso against the U.S. dollar. The local bourse's main index rose 0.45 percent to 6,320.67 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.37 percent to 3,607.65 points. Half of the sectoral gauges trailed the main index, namely Services, 2.96 percent; Holding Firms, 0.30 percent; and Property, 0.28 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil slipped by 1.24 percent, Financials by 1.15 percent; and Industrial by 0.39 percent. Volume reached 1.11 billion shares amounting to PHP6.21 billion. Advancers led decliners at 118 to 94 while 49 shares were unchanged.
According to Philippines News Agency, the local currency improved to 59.17 to a greenback after days of slide, reaching 59.35 on Wednesday. The peso opened the day sideways at 59.3 - its weakest for the day. Strongest level stood at 59.01, bringing the average to 59.14. Volume inched up to USD1.65 billion from the previous day's USD1.32 billion.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort, in a report, attributed peso's recovery partly to the sustained rise of the country's dollar reserves to USD110.9 billion in end-December 2025 from 2024's USD106.3 billion, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr.'s statement that they are near the end of their monetary easing cycle, and the decline in global oil prices.
