PSEi gains steam ahead of June inflation report

MANILA, Philippines —  The local stock market gathered steam ahead of the scheduled release today of the country’s June inflation report.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped by 0.78 percent or 49.93 points to cap off yesterday’s session at 6,468.98.

Also finishing higher was the broader All Shares index, which increased by 0.17 percent or 6.42 points to settle at 3,803.33.

“The PSEi gained ahead of the latest local inflation for the month of June that could slightly pickup from the 5.5-year low of 1.3 percent posted in May, but still below the two to four percent BSP inflation target, thereby could still justify further local policy rate cuts in the coming months,” RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort said.

Trading was strong as total value turnover surged to P10.23 billion from the previous day’s P7.77 billion.

Local counters were mostly up, except for services and industrial, which declined by 0.59 percent and 0.34 percent, respectively.

Holdings firms posted the largest gain, rising by 1.26 percent.

Market breadth, however, was negative as decliners squashed advancers, 126 to 84, while 60 issues were unchanged.

DigiPlus was the most actively traded stock for the second straight  session, declining by 13.89 percent to P38.75 per share amid efforts by lawmakers to impose stricter regulations on online gambling.

Shares of Bloomberry Resorts also plunged by six percent to P4.70.

GT Capital, meanwhile, led the index members, climbing by 3.15 percent to P655.