PSEi climbs to 6,247 on slower inflation to fuel rate pause hopes
Local equities extended their winning streak to a fifth consecutive session as market sentiment received a boost from a slower-than-expected inflation print for June.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) edged up 23.12 points, or 0.37 percent, to finish at 6,247.11 on Tuesday, July 7. Despite the headline gain, the broader market showed signs of exhaustion as early profit-taking limited the day’s advance. Market breadth was negative, with 97 decliners outpacing 82 gainers, while 61 issues closed unchanged.
Total volume reached 1.02 billion shares valued at ₱5.69 billion. The market's upward trajectory was largely sustained by a selective rotation into the services sector, which managed to cushion broader declines across most other industry counters that finished the session in the red.
The five-day market rally was heavily supported by a recovery in heavyweight International Container Terminal Services Inc., alongside welcoming macroeconomic data, according to Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at Philstocks Financial Inc.
He noted that market participants cheered the deceleration in the headline consumer price index to 6.4 percent in June, down from the 6.8 percent recorded in May.
The softer inflation print has reinforced a constructive outlook among market participants regarding the domestic price trajectory.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., observed that the better-than-anticipated data successfully generated buying pressure, allowing the bourse to sustain its short-term uptrend.
He added that overall equity sentiment remains supported by investors repositioning their portfolios ahead of a potentially more accommodative monetary policy environment.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., pointed out that while June’s inflation rate marks the slowest pace in three months, it remains significantly above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ formal target band of two percent to four percent.
However, Ricafort emphasized that the cooling consumer price index effectively enhances the domestic purchasing power of the Philippine peso and diminishes the immediate urgency for the central bank to pursue further aggressive policy tightening in the near term.