Auspicious ‘ber’ season start as index climbs

The equities market started September in green, climbing by 25.87 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 6,923.41.

Sectors were split, with Holding firms gaining the most at 1.27 percent, followed by Services, up by 0.89 percent, and Banking, increasing by 0.56 percent.

Meanwhile, Miners was the biggest loser, down by 2.28 percent.

Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Tantiangco said market sentiment was driven by expectations that inflation had declined last August compared to July’s 4.4 percent.

Wall Street provides cue

“This comes following the BSP’s range forecast for August’s inflation, which is from 3.2 percent to 4.0 percent. Investors also took cues from Wall Street’s positive performance in last week’s close,” he said in a Viber message.

“Sentiment got a boost from the US as well, which saw their equity markets close in the green over the weekend,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.

The net market value turnover was P4.08 billion, below the year-to-date average of P5.01 billion per day. Advancers exceed Decliners at 105 to 84, while 56 names remain unchanged.