Manila, Philippines – The Philippine Stock Exchange Index was slightly lower today after attempting to breach the 7900 during the early trading hours. The index closed at 7820.71, down 30.75 points or 0.39 percent. The broader all-share index, however, is up 0.15 percent.
Sub-indices mixed today, with the Industrial and Property sub-index closing higher.
On the other hand, the Financial, Holdings, Service, and Mining and Oil sectors were down for the day.
The best performing sub-index is the Industrial sector, rising by 0.31 percent. The worst performing index is the Holdings space lower by 0.44 percent.
Within the Industrial sector, URC led the sub-index higher as it closed at 138.000. This figure was higher by 3.14 percent versus yesterday’s close.
Meanwhile, FB closed at 79.00 higher by 6.04 percent. FGEN closed at 15.96, higher by 3.64. MWC closed at 26.70, higher by 1.91 percent.
Within the Holdings sector, AC led the sub-index lower as it closed at 1010.00. The number was lower by 0.98 percent versus yesterday’s close.
Moreover, AEV closed at 59.30 lower by 1.66 percent. SM closed at 960, lower by 0.41 percent. MPI closed at 4.99, lower by 1.77 percent.
The most active stocks today include ALI with PHP 487 million in traded value. EDC also made it to the top gainers with a traded value of PHP 436.22 million. MEG had PHP 363.57 million in traded value.
Significant gainers for the day include EDC higher by 11.97 percent, GSMI by 8.65 percent, BRN by 6.12 percent, FB by 6.04 percent, BLOOM by 5.15 percent, and RLC by 4.48 percent.
Significant losers include ISM down by 6.67 percent, TECH by 4.65 percent, and TBGI by 3.95 percent.
There were 90 advances and 121 declines, while 34 names remain unchanged. Value turnover totaled PHP 5.50 billion. Foreign exchange rate stood at USD 1: PHP 53.07.
Foreign Exchange Reserves of the country hit fresh six-year lows for July as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) utilized its pool of funds to defend the peso from further eroding.
The Gross International Reserves (GIR) declined for the fourth straight month to USD 76.892 billion from June’s USD 77.525 billion. This figure is also lower than the USD 81.065 billion recorded a year ago.
This GIR is the lowest level recorded since June 2012, which stood at USD 17.13 billion. The current GIR level is below the central bank’s USD 80 billion forecast for 2018 and at the same time lower than the 2017 ending value of USD 81.57.
The decline was due to the repayment of outstanding foreign debt, plus the downward adjustments in international gold prices. Value of the BSP’s gold holdings slipped to USD 7.788 billion. This figure is lower than the USD 7.913 billion in June and USD 8.003 billion a year ago.
BSP also used the reserves to aid the depreciating peso as it inched higher to more than PHP 53.00. In July, the local currency averaged PHP 53.4329 versus the dollar marking a fresh 12-year low.
These figures also affected foreign investments, which dropped to USD 60.831 billion in July versus USD 62.356 billion in June.
On a positive note, the BSP’s foreign currency holdings went up to USD 6.59 billion from the only USD 5.573 billion in June due to the weaker peso.
Nonetheless, BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr. assured that the country’s GIR remains sufficient to protect our economy and financial markets versus global market volatilities.
Fitch Ratings, a credit rating agency, also affirmed the strength of the country’s reserves as a source of optimism. It gave the Philippines a credit score of “BBB” with a stable outlook as of last month.
The index retracted today and is currently testing support. The short and medium-term moving averages are still bullishly aligned with the 15 EMA as immediate support.
MACD is still bullish. RSI is moving sideways and is near overbought levels. 7820 is the estimated Support. Resistance is expected at 7946.
Foreign Fund Flow
PSEi registered a Net Foreign Buying worth P322,970,092.66 as of August 09, 2018.
On a 30-day trading period, PSEi is on a Net Foreign Selling worth PHP1,562,938,666.85.
- Key Prices for PH Bluechip Stocks 30% Above 52-Week Low - June 4, 2024
- May 2024 Market Sentiment Rating of 30 PH Bluechip Stocks - June 3, 2024
- EquiTalks: ICT, BPI, AEV Updates – 5.29.2024 - May 29, 2024
