MANILA -- Apprehensions on trade-related issues weakened both the Philippine peso, which crossed the 51-level, and the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) Wednesday.
The local unit finished the day’s trade at 51.02 from 50.951 a day ago, which BPI Research attributed to news in which US President Donald Trump was quoted as saying there is no urgency for a trade deal with China.
US is set to impose another round of tariff on Chinese goods on December 15 unless a US-China trade deal transpires before this.
Trump also warned of new tariffs on goods from several other countries like Argentina and Brazil for steel and aluminum, and France for digital services.
The peso opened sideways at 51.1 from 51.08 a day ago.
It traded between 51.15 and 50.975, resulting in an average of 51.067.
Volume reached USD1.43 billion, lower than the previous day’s USD1.5 billion.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 50.90 and 51.15 on Thursday.
The main equities index shed 0.50 percent, or 39.25 points, to 7,815.93 points.
All Shares declined by 0.50 percent, or 23.39 points, to 4,657.81 points.
Mining and Oil index registered the highest drop among the sectors with 1.81 percent, followed by the Property, 1.63 percent; and Holding Firms and Services, which both fell by 0.67 percent.
On the other hand, Financials rose by 0.57 percent and Industrial by 0.42 percent.
Volume remained thin at 644.1 million shares amounting to USD7.72 billion.
Losers led gainers at 122 to 58, while 47 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
