LOWER bank reserve requirements announced by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) led to mixed results for the peso and stock market on Friday. The currency weakened by 8 centavos to P55.69 against the dollar, while the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) hit a new two-and-a-half year high, gaining 50.16 points, or 0.70 percent, to end the trading week at 7,252.32. The broader All Shares rose 0.62 percent, or 23.94 points, to 3,895.62. The peso opened at P55.55:$1 and ranged from P55.45 to P55.69. Volume reached P1.672 billion, lower than the P1.993 billion seen in the previous session. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso weakened in the wake of the reserve requirement cut. An oil price correction also weighed on the currency, he added. Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Tantiangco, meanwhile, said "the bourse, which is already cheering the Federal Reserve's recent 50-basis-point policy rate cut, received another boost as the BSP trimmed our banks' reserve requirement ratios." "By augmenting liquidity, the move is seen to give the local economy a boost," he added. Tantiangco noted that trading was strong with net value turnover at P14.02 billion, higher than the year-to-date average of P5.10 billion. "Foreigners were net buyers with net inflows amounting to P1.28 billion," he continued. Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis Limlingan said the PSEi was "buoyed by fund adjustments from the FTSE rebalancing and investor optimism after the BSP cut the RRR for local banks: 250 basis points (bps) for universal banks to 7 percent, 200 bps for digital banks, and 100 bps for thrift, rural and cooperative banks, effective Oct. 25." Except for the property index, which dropped by 0.70 percent, all other sectors were in the green with financials up the most by 2.25 percent. Gainers outnumbered decliners, 130 against 77, while 47 names were unchanged.