Shares rebound as May inflation stays within target in Philippines

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The stock market bounced back after a major sell-off the previous day as investors stayed positive despite higher inflation rate announced in May.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed at 6,441.32 yesterday, up by 0.86 percent or 54.90 points.

The broader All Shares index likewise rose by 0.43 percent or 14.65 points to settle at 3,453.69.

'Philippine shares rebounded from prior losses, mirroring the move of the US equities in its last session and shrugging off the uptick in headline inflation this morning,' Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said.

Philstocks Financial research and engagement officer Mikhail Plopenio said investors cheered May's inflation data, which came in at 3.9 percent, settling near the lower end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' forecast for the month.

Plopenio said the latest print also remained within the government's two to four percent target range.

'The statement from the BSP regarding the possibility of cutting policy rates ahead of the Federal Reserve raised rate cut hopes which added to the positive sentiment. Lastly, positive cues from Wall Street influenced trading for Wednesday's session,' he said.

Net value turnover thinned to P4.3 billion from the previous day's P5.74 billion and was lower than the year-to-date average of P5.13 billion.

Holding firms posted the biggest gain across all the sectors with a 1.78 percent surge.

Mining and oil as well as industrial were the losers of the session, slipping by 0.57 percent and 0.05 percent, respectively.

Market breadth was positive as advancers crushed decliners, 103 to 82, while 46 issues were unchanged.

SM Investments Corp. led the index members with an increase of 3.91 percent, while Converge ICT Solutions had the biggest decline at 4.84 percent.