THE MAIN INDEX inched up on Wednesday as the market continued to digest US President Donald J. Trump’s policy comments following his inauguration and amid the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office’s (AMRO) bullish view on the Philippine economy.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.12% or 8.13 points to close at 6,348.34 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares index slipped by 0.04% or 1.71 points to 3,698.53.

“The local market bounced back as investors hunted for bargains. Helping in today’s session were the positive cues from Wall Street as well as AMRO’s projection of the Philippines being the second-fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia this 2025,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

“Philippine shares climbed quietly as investors began to assess the market effects of President Trump’s executive orders. Overnight, US stocks rose on Tuesday as Wall Street viewed President Trump’s trade remarks as softer than expected,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

AMRO said in its Regional Economic Outlook quarterly update report released on Tuesday that the Philippine gross domestic product is projected to expand by 6.3% this year, unchanged from the forecast in December.

This is the second-fastest among Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, behind Vietnam’s 6.5%.

Meanwhile, Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow closing at their highest levels in more than a month as investors assessed Mr. Trump’s first actions as US president and were encouraged that he did not start his second term with blanket tariff increases, Reuters reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 537.98 points or 1.24% to 44,025.81; the S&P 500 gained 52.58 points or 0.88% to 6,049.24; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 126.58 points or 0.64% to 19,756.78 to close near its highest level since Jan. 6.

Back home, almost all sectoral indices closed in the red on Wednesday. Mining and oil lost 0.53% or 41.83 points to end at 7,720.43; holding firms decreased by 0.12% or 6.82 points to 5,336.45; financials retreated by 0.07% or 1.67 points to 2,178.87; property inched down by 0.05% or 1.17 points to 2,336.03; and industrials slipped by 0.04% or 3.55 points to 8,918.23.

Meanwhile, services went up by 0.71% or 14.83 points to end at 2,095.79.

Value turnover went up to P4.68 billion on Wednesday with 862.32 million issues changing hands from the P3.87 billion with 1.01 billion shares traded on Tuesday.

Decliners beat advancers, 103 versus 73, while 65 names were unchanged.

Net foreign selling increased to P404.25 million on Wednesday from the P173.15 million on Tuesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave with Reuters