PHILIPPINE SHARES closed the week in the green as sentiment was boosted by S&P Global Ratings’ affirmation of the country’s credit rating on strong recovery prospects.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up by 9.37 points or 0.14% to close at 6,674.51 on Friday, while the broader all shares index climbed by 12.56 points or 0.31% to 4,047.48.
“The market inched up a few points on the last trading day of the week as participants took positively the S&P’s credit rating for the country, as well as its outlook for the Philippine economy,” Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren Blaine T. Pangan said in a Viber message on Friday.
S&P on Thursday kept its “BBB+” rating on the Philippines and assigned a “stable” outlook on expectations of a “healthy” economic recovery, which will help improve the country’s fiscal standing that has weakened because of the coronavirus crisis.
The current “BBB+” sovereign rating is a notch away from the “A”-level grade targeted by the government, while a “stable” outlook means the rating is likely to be maintained in the next six months to two years.
S&P also maintained its A-2 short-term credit rating for the Philippines, while the outlook on long-term rating is still stable.
The debt watcher last affirmed its credit rating for the country in May 2020 with the same “stable” outlook.
“Investors may have also welcomed the DTI’s (Department of Trade and Industry) statement that they see the manufacturing sector recovering this year,” Mr. Pangan added. “It may have helped that foreigners have once again turned net buyers after 10 days of being net sellers in the local market.”
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said essential businesses such as food, pharmaceuticals, and consumer firms are expected to boost the manufacturing sector this year.
Foreigners logged net purchases worth P917.26 million on Friday, a turnaround from the P889.04 million in net outflows seen on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Claire T. Alviar said the index went up on anticipation of eased quarantine restrictions and bargain hunting of “battered stocks in the index…due to the effect of MSCI rebalancing.”
“We see conviction in the market,” Ms. Alviar adds, saying the market’s value turnover on Friday was stronger than the month-to-date average.
Value turnover declined to P12.41 billion with 1.67 billion shares switching hands on Friday from the P23.81 billion with 2.29 billion issues traded on the previous trading day.
Majority of sectoral indices posted gains except for holding firms, which lost 101.4 points or 1.48% to end at 6,728.41.
Meanwhile, services improved by 28.66 points or 1.93% to close at 1,510.84; property went up by 34.48 points or 1.06% to 3,273.72; financials gained 12.15 points or 0.86% to 1,417.63; industrials climbed 65.75 points or 0.73% to finish at 8,989.64; and mining and oil gained 21.75 points or 0.23% to finish at 9,416.64.
Advancers outnumbered decliners, 119 against 69, while 66 names closed unchanged. — K.C.G. Valmonte