MANILA Cheap Giorgio Chiellini Jersey , Aug. 29 (Xinhua)-- Philippine stocks continued to rally for the fourth straight day since the freefall last Monday as regional markets reacted positively to the better-than-expected U. S. economic growth in the second quarter.
On Friday, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 76. 72 points or 1.09 percent to close at 7,098.81.
On Monday's trading, the PSEi fell 487.97 points, the biggest decline in a single day in absolute terms Cheap Gianluigi Buffon Jersey , to close at 6,791.01.
On the same day, the Philippine peso, the local currency, also reached a low of 46.845 pesos to 1 U.S. dollar after opening at 46. 70 pesos to 1 U.S. dollar. This was the weakest exchange rate of the Philippine peso in five years.
Friday's gains were led by the miningoil counter which surged by 5.16 percent while the industrial Cheap Federico Mattiello Jersey , holding firm and property counters, rose by more than 1 percent.
On Thursday or a day before, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the country's highest economic policy-making body, announced that the Philippine economy expanded by 5.6 percent in the second quarter Cheap Federico Bernardeschi Jersey , faster than the 5 percent growth in the first quarter, but below the government's 2015 target of 7 percent to 8 percent.
In a media briefing, NEDA Director General Arsenio Balisacan admitted that with the gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 5.3 percent in the first half, even the low-end of the full-year growth target was now"quite challenging"to meet.
Balisacan said the realistic growth could be 6 percent to 6.5 percent for the whole year. "We are not projecting right now, (but) the realistic scenario is 6 percent to 6.5 percent. The 7 to 8 (percent target) for full year is already quite challenging Cheap Fabrizio Caligara Jersey ,"he said.
The gross national income, which factors in remittances from other countries, grew 5 percent in the second