Bellwether shares climbed to a one-month high as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas maintained a dovish position on policy rates.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained on Monday by 36.68 points, or +0.6 percent, to close at 6,529.43.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said BSP Governor Eli Remolona reiterated signals on a possible rate cut as early as August.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire Alviar, meanwhile, said foreign investors contributed to Monday’s gain, registering a net inflow of P143.69 million.

Banks big gainer

“The banking sector gained the most, increasing by 2.66 percent, led by the gains of BDO Unibank, Inc. (4.47 percent) and Bank of the Philippine Islands [PSE: BPI] (2.94 percent), which had the biggest gain among the index members,” she said in a Viber message.

The service sector, meanwhile, was at the bottom, losing by 0.50 percent held down by a 1.39 percent decline of Int’l Container Terminal Services, Inc.

The peso closed at P58.502 from a dollar, which Ricafort said was a good sign of the peso stabilizing mostly at the 58.50–58.80 levels recently.

“[This is] a good signal for the financial markets and [t]he overall economy, again lower or better [than] the immediate high of 58.92 posted on June 27, 2024, or more than a week before,” he said.