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The local stock barometer reaffirmed on Thursday, ending a five-day recession as investors cheered up on optimistic US markets and hopes for an upcoming COVID-19 vaccine.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Major Stock Index (PSEi) added 34.47 points or 0.6 percent to close at 5,772.86, mainly supported by domestic hands that offset sustained foreign outflows.
On Thursday, the Philippines’ unemployment rate was reported to have improved to 10 percent in July from a record 17.7 percent in April, but this barely affected the market.
Stock brokers said the PSEi’s gains for the day were primarily driven by the rise in benchmark stocks to near-record levels along with hopes for an upcoming COVID-19 cure.
The American health expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had said in a television interview that the cure for the COVID-19 pandemic could arrive before the end of the year.
On the decline in the unemployment rate in the Philippines to 10 percent, ING Philippines economist Nicholas Mapa said more Filipinos were employed as large-scale lockdown measures eased in the second quarter.
“The employment situation improved despite the influx of new graduates and business activity normalized somewhat after the stagnation in March and April,” said Mapa.
Despite an improvement over previous figures, he said the country was still a long way from pre-pandemic conditions.
“Given the steady increase in new infections and the partial lockdown measures in place, unemployment figures are likely to remain high well into next year. With gross domestic product figures forecast to be in contraction through the first quarter of 2021, the prospects for a rapid reversal to the 5 percent level will remain remote until we see a rebound in GDP to the 6 percent norm. “Map said.
The financial and services sectors drove the PSEi, both gaining more than 1 percent.
Value billing for the day reached P5,270 million.
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