The Philippine stock market finished in positive territory yesterday as investors picked up bargains and cheered the strong quarterly corporate results.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Composite index (PSEi) closed 21.87 points or 0.33 percent up at 6,622.61.

Likewise, the broader All Shares index gained 6.69 points or 0.19 percent to close at 3,532.33.

The sectoral gauges closed mostly in positive territory except for services and financials.

The active stocks were mostly up as well but some managed to end in the red.

BDO topped the active list, closing lower by 0.66 percent to settle at P136.10 per share.

Claire Alviar of Philstocks Financials said investors picked up bargains at the market's support level of 6,600.

'However, despite this, there was no clear conviction from investors as the net value turnover was only at P3.88 billion, which is lower than the average for the month so far, and investors were still awaiting the release of the Philippine GDP and the inflation rate in the US,' she said.

Meanwhile, Asian shares traded mixed yesterday as investors took a wait-and-see view on the week ahead that's full of reports on some of the market's biggest worries, including stubbornly high inflation across the economy.

The larger concern for markets is that all the turmoil could cause banks to pull back on their lending. That in turn could raise the risk of a recession that many investors already see as highly likely.

A report from the Federal Reserve showed many banks tightened their lending standards during the first three months of the year. Not only that, the survey suggested banks widely expect to raise their standards over the course of 2023.

The Federal Reserve has lifted its benchmark interest rate to a range of 5-5.25 percent, up from virtually zero early last year, in hopes of slowing high inflation.

High rates do that by slowing the economy and hurting prices for investments, which runs the risk of causing a recession if they stay too high for too long.

 

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