Both the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) and the Philippine peso ended Tuesday with losses as investors took note of developments in the country, such as the investigation into anomalous infrastructure projects.
The main equities index shed 1.55 percent to 6,118.54 points, and the All Shares by 0.96 percent to 3,693.67 points.
Most of the sectoral gauges also ended the day in the red, led by the Financials after it slipped 2.43 percent.
It was trailed by the Services, 1.48 percent; Holding Firms, 1.46 percent; Property, 1.24 percent; and Industrial, 0.69 percent.
Only the Mining and Oil gained during the day, after it rose 3.68 percent.
Volume reached 2.72 billion shares worth P22.7 billion.
Decliners led advancers at 129 to 78 while 56 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said “investors grew more cautious about the ongoing issues facing the country, which continue to weigh on overall market confidence.”
“Moreover, despite the optimistic outlook for additional BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) rate cuts and a stable inflation rate, the market still moved lower, reflecting the prevailing bearish sentiment among participants,” he said, referring to the projected cut in the BSP’s key rates after the US Federal Reserve slashed its key rates this month.
These factors also affected the local currency, which ended the day weaker against the US dollar at 57.29 from 57.05 on Monday.
It opened the day stronger at 56.95 compared to its 57.15 start in the previous session.
It traded between 56.95 and 57.33, bringing the day’s average to 57.1
Volume went down to USD1.86 billion from the day-ago’s USD1.27 billion.*PNA
