Stocks slightly higher, peso rallies to P50.54:$1

July 25, 2017

Stocks closed slightly higher on Tuesday despite a downturn in some mining issues after President Rodrigo Duterte told mining companies he would tax them to death if they didn't pay attention to environmental concerns. The Philippine Stock Index closed 9.08 points higher to 7,971.72  At the broader market, there were  142 decliners, 65 gainers and 46 unchanged. Semirara Mining and Power Corp rose 1.73 percent to P171 while DMCI Holdings went down 1.89 percent to P15.60 and Nickel Asia declined 8.11 percent to P5.89. Volume reached 1.74 billion shares worth P6.23 billion. Foreigners were net buyers with P2.98 billion compared to selling at P2.4 billion. The peso hit the day low at P50.84 against the US dollar before  closing at P50.54. On  Monday it closed at P50.735 vs the greenback. Volume at the Philippine Dealing System jumped to $738.75 million from $284. 90 million on Monday. DMS