POSITIVE SENTIMENT. Upbeat sentiments from the US bouys both the main equities index and the peso on Monday (July 18, 2022). Among others, US reported on Friday the 1-percent increase in retail sales last June, higher than the 0.9 percent expectations. MANILA - The main equities index recovered on Monday while the peso gained against the greenback due partly to positive economic news from the United States. After sliding for most of last week, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained by 1.19 percent, or 73.52 points, to 6,268.78 points. All Shares followed with a jump of 0.73 percent, or 24.33 points, to 3,370.06 points. Most of the sectoral counters also finished with gains, led by Property after it rose by 3.56 percent. It was trailed by Holding Firms, 1.42 percent; Financials, 0.14 percent; and Industrial, 0.005 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil slipped by 0.59 percent and Services by 0.56 percent. Volume was thin at 521.89 million shares amounting to PHP4.24 billi