Share prices closed up Thursday on bargain hunting.
The peso ended down.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was up 93.48 points, a 1.44 percent hike to 6,576.76.
The broader All Shares index was up 34.65 points or 1.03 percent to 3,499.49.
Gainers edged losers 99 to 81 with 50 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P3.95 billion.
The peso closed at 55.52 to the dollar, down from 55.19 on Wednesday.
The currency opened at 55.30 and hit a high of 55.27 and low of 55.565. Trading turnover reached $1.28 billion.Charu Chanana, a macro and markets strategist at Saxo Markets, said Fitch’s US credit rating downgrade had made investors more risk-averse, which worked against Asian currencies.
Fitch on Tuesday downgraded the US government’s top credit rating, a move that drew an angry response from the White House and surprised investors.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, scaled a four-week peak of 102.82 and extended the previous session’s 0.5 percent gain following strong private payrolls data.
Markets were awaiting the closely watched US nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday.
Mikhail Philippe Plopenio, analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., said investors saw bargain-hunting opportunities after Wednesday’s decline.
“The anticipation of cooler inflation at home, which is set to be released this Friday (today) also boosted sentiment. Additionally, China’s Caixin services purchasing managers index (PMI) which came in at 54.1, above expectations, was cheered by many spurring optimism with respect to the country’s economic recovery,” Plopenio said.
Most actively traded Megaworld Corp. was up P0.03 to P2.05. Ayala Land Inc. was up P1.30 to P28.95. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P2.60 to P146.60. Universal Robina Corp. was up P3 to P125. Ayala Corp. was up P8.50 to P620. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.55 to P33.05. GT Capital Holdings Inc. was down P4.50 to P535.50. Converge ICT Solutions Inc. was up P0.10 to P9.30. Bank of the Philippine Islands was up P1.20 to P113.50. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P2 to P208.
