Manila, Philippines – Philippine shares advanced on Wednesday to lift the main index for a second straight session, taking the cue from Wall Street’s overnight gains.

Underpinning the rally was the closely watched data on US inflation, which was unchanged at 2.7 percent in July, making the case for a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve at its next meeting.
Stocks and interest rates move in opposite directions: falling rates tend to lift the stock market.
“The local market extended its rise this Wednesday on the back of positive cues from Wall Street,” said Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at PhilStocks Financial, Inc.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at fresh record highs on Tuesday after the softer-than-expected US inflation report. The broad-based S&P ended the session up by 1.13 percent at 6,445.76, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq settled at 21,681.90, a gain of 1.39 percent.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished up by 0.56 percent at 6,325.09.
“Sentiment was also lifted by the steady US inflation report, which could influence the Fed’s monetary policy and overall investor sentiment in the country,” Regina Capital managing director Luis Limlingan said in a separate note to investors.
Trading was brisk with net value turnover at P9.24 billion, higher than the year-to-date average of P5.91 billion. Foreigners were net buyers with net inflows at P973.04 million.
Leading the gains were the conglomerates that added 1.48 percent. Advancers edged out decliners 103 to 91.