Stocks lose early gains, peso gains to P50.08 to the dollar

April 7, 2017

Stocks settled for slim gains after the key index soared to as high as 90 points at the one stage on Friday. The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed at 7,583.75 points, up 18.43 points. In the broader market, there were 93 advancers and 80 decliners, with 63 issues steady. Volume was 2.17 billion worth P9.74 billion from Thursday’s 2.20 billion worth P9.53 billion. Foreigners were net buyers, with purchases of P5.78 billion and sales of P4.23 billion. Gainers were led by ATN Holdings “B”, up 19.57 percent to 0.55. Most active shares were SM Prime Holdings Inc, down 0.17 percent to settle at P29.65. The share fetched volume of 21,844,000 valued at P661.7 million. Meanwhile, Del Monte Pacific Limited concluded a $200 million follow-on public offering of its US Dollar Denominated Series A-1 Preference Shares with a listing ceremony on Friday. DMPA1 is the first Dollar Denominated Securities (DDS) to list in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). “It is also our hope that by having fund raising alternatives like Dollar Denominated Securities, the Exchange will continue to see a robust pipeline of capital raising initiatives,” PSE Chairman Jose T. Pardo said in his welcome remarks during the listing ceremony. Dollar Denominated Securities (DDS) are securities listed, traded and settled in US dollars. The peso closed at P50.08 from Thursday’s P50.175 against the US dollar. Volume reached $504.5 million from $274.1 million at the Philippine Dealing System. DMS.