MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Stock Exchange index bounced back from Thursday’s tumble with its best performance of the year, fueled primarily by the flat domestic inflation data. The main composite index climbed yesterday to its highest level for the year, gaining 0.83 percent or 59.47 points to close at 7,263.58. The broader all shares index likewise joined the bellwether index on its upward hike as it picked up 0.79 percent or 33.47 points to end the week at 4,290.36. “The market reacted positively on the August inflation data. It provided good news for the market,” said First Grade Finance Inc. managing director Astro del Castillo. Inflation stayed flat at 4.9 percent in August, bringing year-to-date inflation to 4.4 percent, well within the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s three-to five-percent inflation target for the year. Castillo said the market has continued to defy odds, as it was earlier expected to consolidate this week following successive days of gains the previous week. “On the contrary, the market continues to gain steam,” Castillo said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The advance in Philippine share prices also counter flowed with the slip seen in Asia and US markets. The three main indexes on Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow sliding 0.05 percent, the S&P 500 slipping 0.15 percent and the Nasdaq declining 0.22 percent. Market breadth was positive as advancers crushed decliners, 111 to 67, while prices of 49 stocks did not change.
