The easing of inflation in October has improved investors' sentiment on Tuesday, lifting the local index for four straight trading days, while the peso closed weaker. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 53.29 points, or 0.88 percent, to the 6,131.32 level, while the broader All Shares also rose by 18.19 points to 3,310.34. All sectoral indices closed on a positive territory, with gainers led by industrial, with shares higher by 93.97 points to 8,589.75. Financials followed which increased by 40.91 points; Holding Firms, up by 12.09 points; Services, 5.17 points; Mining and Oil, 2.60 points; and Property, 0.40 points. 'Philippine shares continued to eke out gains as investors remained positive with the latest inflation print,' Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said. '(T)he October CPI (consumer price index) fell well below investors' expectations at 4.9 percent, acting as a catalyst that elevated rates may have reached their peak,' he added. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported Tuesday that October inflation was lower than the 6.1 percent inflation in September. Gainers still outpaced losers at 89 to 80, while 48 issues left unchanged. Meanwhile, the peso closed weaker after three days of gains. The peso shed PHP0.21 at PHP56.12 to a US dollar from its PHP55.91 finish on Monday. The local currency started the day weak at PHP56 from last day's opening of PHP55.80. The currency pair traded between a low of PHP56 and a high of PHP56.29, bringing the average level for the day at PHP56.14. The total volume of trade increased to USD1.62 billion from the previous day's volume of USD1.15 billion.
Source: Philippines News Agency