Peso rallies to P53.34:$1, stocks gain

June 30, 2018

The Philippine peso rallied against the US dollar on Friday, closing around 17 centavos higher than the previous day.

It closed at P53.34 after hitting a low of P53.50. On Thursday, the peso closed at P53.515. Last week, the Monetary Board raised interest rates for the second straight month to boost the peso.

The peso, according to the Department of Finance's (DOF) economic bulletin on Friday, " is moving in tandem with global currencies in the ongoing turbulence in financial markets arising from the intensifying trade war, the rise in US interest rates, and the shift in European Central Bank monetary stance as it is about to end quantitative easing."

The DOF said since January, the Indian rupee depreciated by 7.46 percent, Philippine peso by 7.42 percent, Korean won by 5.13 percent and Indonesian rupiah by 4.97 percent.

"Note that in the first quarter of 2018, GDP growth in India was 7.7 percent; in the Philippines, 6.8 percent; and Indonesia, 5.1 percent.  These are among the highest economic growth rates in the world," the DOF bulletin said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange finished 127.11 points higher to 7, 193.68. The index rose 1.85 percent for the first time in two weeks on a week-to-week basis. In the broader market, there were 120 gainers, 82 decliners and 43 shares were unchanged.

Volume reached 750.6 million valued at P7.12 billion from Thursday's 623.6 million worth P5.79 billion. Foreigners were net buyers, with P4.23 billion compared to selling of P3.7 billion.

Most active shares were led by SM Prime, up 4.96 percent to P35.95; Ayala Land, up 2.43 percent to P37.90 and Meralco, up 3.31 percent to P355.60. Real estate developer and construction company DM Wenceslao, which debuted at the PSE, closed 14.50 percent down to P10.26. DMS