PSEi highest in 9 mos after strong growth

The bellwether stock index finished strongly Friday to end the week, piercing the critical 6,700 points after the government reported a 2023 gross domestic product growth rate of 5.6 percent, which fell short of the 6-percent target but was still among the highest in the region.

The Philippine peso also recovered to the 55 level on Friday.

The GDP performance outpaced China (5.2 percent), Vietnam (5.0 percent), and Malaysia (3.8 percent) based on the latest available data.

This week’s trading ended with the PSEi up 84.24 points at 6,707.25 and All Shares up 30.79 points at 3,516.82.

Except for the property sector index, which fell by 16.54 points to 2,879.82, all sectoral indexes finished higher.

The Philippine peso, however, closed at 55.92 to the US dollar on Friday, moving back up to the 55-level.

From Thursday’s close of 56.12 to a dollar, it increased by 0.20. After starting the previous day at 56.25, it opened the day at 56.02.

The currency pair moved between 55.89 and 56.02, with the greenback reaching an average level of 55.94 for the day.

From $1.78 billion the previous trading day to $1.6 billion today, trade volume decreased slightly.