Stocks up, peso slightly lower

March 21, 2019

Philippine stocks rose on Thursday as the central bank decided to keep policy rates steady.

The peso declined three centavos to end at P52.84 against the US dollar. Volume at the foreign exchange portal of the Bankers Association of the Philippines amounted to $1.0090 billion from $870.8 million.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed at 7,954.72, up 96.52 points. In the broader market, there were 124 gainers, 76 decliners and 43 shares unchanged.

Volume reached 1.4 billion shares worth P5.7 billion from Wednesday's 594.6 million shares valued at P5.5 billion.

Most active shares were led by Ayala Land, up 2.29 percent to P44.70; Ayala Corp., up 0.49 percent to P 931.50; BDO, up 0.76 percent to P133 and Megaworld, up 3.05 percent to P5.74.  DMS