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THE peso regained some ground, and the stock market also snapped a three-day slide ahead of widely awaited monetary policy meetings.
The currency, which shed 35 centavos at the start of the week, strengthened by 8 centavos on Tuesday to P55.57 against the dollar.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), meanwhile, climbed by 64.10 points, or 1.03 percent, for a 6,292.39 finish.
The broader All Shares also rose, gaining 0.78 percent, or 25.81 points, to 3,353.46.
The peso opened trading at P55.6:$1 and ranged from P55.55 to P55.65. Volume reached P1.005 billion, higher than the P888 million recorded in the previous session.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the PSEi’s rise and steady crude prices had supported the peso.
Philstocks Financial Inc. researcher Mikhail Plopenio, meanwhile, said the PSEi closed in the green as traders took positive cues from Wall Street “amid expectations that the US’ inflation … further slowed down in November.”
“Additionally, the anticipation that both the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will be holding key policy rates amid cooling inflation in the US and at home contributed to the climb,” Plopenio said.
US inflation data was to be released as the Fed started its December 12-13 meeting. The BSP’s policymaking Monetary Board, meanwhile, will hold its own on Decemebr 14.
“The index surged on market-on-close buying as traders continued to position ahead of the release of US November inflation data as well as the much-awaited policy meetings of the [Fed and the BSP],” Juan Paolo Colet, China Bank Capital Corp. managing director, also said.
Market participation continued to be weak with a net market value turnover of P2.8 billion, lower than the year-to-date average of P4.89 billion.
Colet noted that the weak market participation “indicates that many investors would rather stay on the sidelines until they have digested this week’s key economic events.”
All sector indices were in green territory on Tuesday, led by financials with a 1.54-percent gain.
Advancers outnumbered decliners, 97 against 61, while 55 were unchanged.
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