Manila, March 1, 2026, 16:51 PHT — Market closed.
Philippine stocks head into the new week with February inflation as the main date on local screens, after the benchmark index ended Friday a touch lower. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) last closed at 6,611.24, down 14.22 points, or 0.21%. 1
That matters because inflation has been driving the next steps for interest rates, and rates still set the cost of money for banks, property developers and consumers. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas cut its key rate to 4.25% on Feb. 19 and flagged a data-dependent path, leaving investors sensitive to the next CPI print. 2
The central bank said it expects February inflation within 2.3% to 3.1%, pointing to rice and fish prices, higher domestic fuel costs and power charges in Meralco-serviced areas as possible pressure points. The Philippine Statistics Authority is scheduled to release the official February inflation data on March 5. 3
The PSEi still gained 2.26% in the week ended Feb. 27, with foreign investors net buying about 5.07 billion pesos — purchases minus sales — according to exchange data. Services and mining & oil led weekly sector gains, while financials slipped, and total market value traded for the week reached about 51.86 billion pesos, with roughly 10.21 billion pesos from block sales and odd lots. 4
Currency moves have also been part of the equation for offshore flows. The BSP’s daily reference rate showed the peso at 57.554 per dollar on Feb. 27. 5
On the corporate front, SM Investments said 2025 consolidated net income rose 10% to 90.5 billion pesos, as revenues grew to 681.7 billion pesos. “Our strong fourth quarter performance reinforced our full year results,” president and CEO Frederic C. DyBuncio said in the statement. 6
BDO Unibank, the country’s largest bank by assets, reported 2025 net income of 87.2 billion pesos, with gross customer loans at 3.7 trillion pesos and deposits up 10%, the bank said. BDO also said its “market leadership and robust business franchise” position it to capture long-term opportunities; it declared a regular cash dividend of 1.10 peso per share for the first quarter of 2026, payable March 27 to shareholders on record March 13. 7
Ayala Land disclosed it sold 88 million common shares of AREIT, its real estate investment trust, at 42 pesos each in a block sale — a negotiated large trade done in one line — raising about 3.7 billion pesos before fees and taxes. Context.ph reported settlement is scheduled for March 3 and the company plans to submit a reinvestment plan for the proceeds. 8
For traders, the next few sessions are likely to be a mix of CPI positioning and the grind of annual results and dividend declarations, with liquidity and foreign flows doing much of the heavy lifting. The week just finished had a lot of turnover tied to non-regular trades; if that fades, price moves can look sharper than usual.
But there’s a clean downside scenario: inflation surprises on the high side, the peso slips, and the market has to rethink how quickly rates can fall. Global cues can still interfere — the dollar was set for its first monthly rise since October and oil jumped on supply worries, both of which can feed back into local inflation expectations. 9
The next hard catalyst is Thursday’s March 5 inflation report, with investors also watching how markets digest the March 3 settlement of Ayala Land’s AREIT block sale and any follow-through from the latest earnings and dividend news.
