PHILIPPINE SHARES climbed for a fifth straight day as investors continued to pick up bargains, even as they stayed cautious before the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy meeting on Thursday.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up by 0.26% or 15.34 points to close at 5,821.51 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares index rose by 0.14% or 4.43 points to 3,238.61.
“The local index ended higher as investors continued bargain hunting. However, optimism remained capped amid cautious sentiment. Market participants stayed on the sidelines ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas meeting tomorrow, awaiting further guidance on the central bank’s policy direction,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.
A BusinessWorld poll showed 20 of 22 economists expect the BSP’s policy-setting Monetary Board to hike benchmark rates by 25 basis points (bps) for a fourth straight time at its meeting on Thursday to bring the policy rate to 5.25%. Meanwhile, the other two analysts expect an increase of 50 bps amid heightened inflation pressures.
The BSP has hiked borrowing costs by a cumulative 75 bps since it began its tightening cycle in April to rein in spiraling prices due to spillovers from the Middle East conflict.
COL Financial Group, Inc. research analyst Denise Joaquin said the market stayed wary as the peso plunged to new lows.
The currency logged a new all-time-low finish of P63.361 against the greenback on Wednesday, sliding by 27.1 centavos from Tuesday’s P63.09, which was the previous record.
It also recorded a new historic intraday low of P63.373, breaching the previous trough of P63.03 last hit on Tuesday.
Year to date, the peso is now down by 7.21% or P4.571 from its end-2025 close of P58.79.
“The local index edged higher on Wednesday, extending its winning streak… Trading activity remained muted outside of ICT (International Container Terminal Services, Inc.) and GCASH (Mynt, Inc.),” Ms. Joaquin added in a Viber message.
Sectoral indices closed mixed on Wednesday. Services rose by 1.53% or 45.98 points to 3,041.76; property increased by 0.93% or 16.96 points to 1,840.88; and mining and oil went up by 0.43% or 80.76 points to 18,932.07.
Meanwhile, financials declined by 0.61% or 11.07 points to 1,811.06; industrial retreated by 0.57% or 42.68 points to 7,463.26; and holding firms went down by 0.39% or 16.96 points to 4,344.56.
Advancers outnumbered decliners, 92 to 83, while 73 names were unchanged.
Value turnover fell to P7.05 billion on Wednesday with 986.59 million shares traded from the P58.90 billion with 8.97 billion issues that changed hands on Tuesday.
Net foreign buying was at P503.33 million, a turnaround from the P11.39 billion in net selling in the previous session. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno