MANILA, Philippines — The bellwether index traded in a fresh new high on Friday, with the market’s winning streak fairly consistent over the past three weeks.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index climbed 0.54 percent or 45.13 points to 8,447.94, a fresh all-time high. The bourse closed for the first time above the 8,400 mark on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the broader all-shares index rose 0.20 percent or 9.83 points to 4,938.11 on Friday.
“Philippine stocks traded in fresh new territory, on optimism that U.S. economic data will embolden expectations of gradual rate hikes by the Federal Reserve,” Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said in a text message.
“The US later Friday will publish data on consumer prices and retail sales for September. Fed minutes released Wednesday showed several policy makers looking for stronger evidence of price gains before supporting a third interest-rate increase this year,” he added.
Reuters reported that Asian stocks edged to a 10-year high on Friday on the back of "expectations of brisk global growth."
Half of the counters were positive led by financials, which surged at 1.92 percent or 38.80 points to 2,064.42, followed by property, which climbed 1.09 percent or 42.64 points to 3,954.74, and industrial, which went up 0.05 percent or 5.74 points to 11,061.80.
Despite the PSEi’s new high, decliners trumped advancers at 106 to 91, while 45 issues closed flat.
Foreigners turned buyers with net purchases worth P651.18 million, reversing Thursday’s net selling worth P247.24 million.