Philippine stocks and the peso moved up Thursday ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ decision to keep the benchmark interest rate steady at 6.5 percent.
Analysts said local shares sustained their upward momentum as investors took positive cues from Wall Street’s overnight performance.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index added 20.35 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 6,191.48, while the broader all-shares index inched up by 6.77 points, or 0.20 percent, to finish at 3,314.49.
Philstocks Financial Inc. research analyst Mikhail Plopenio said the anticipated pause in rate hike by the BSP also boosted market sentiment.
“Last-minute buying aided the market’s uptick wherein the market closed at its intra-day high,” Plopenio said.
The peso closed at 55.79 against the US dollar Thursday, stronger than Wednesday’s 55.83.