Peso stays flat vs USD; PSEi slids after posting new highs

MANILA – The Philippine peso finished Thursday almost unchanged against the USD, partly due to the negative close of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) a day after posting another record-high level.

The local unit finished the day at 51.01 from the previous session's  51.00 close, which a trader attributed to wait-and-see stance ahead of the release of non-farm payrolls report in the US on Friday.

It opened the day at 51.07, sideways against the 51 a day ago.

It traded between 51.08 and 50.96, resulting in an average of  51.018 for the day.

Volume reached USD794.7 million, up from the USD761.75 million a day ago.

On the other hand, the main equities gauge shed 0.60 percent, or 50.04 points, to 8,294.01 points a day after hitting another record-high of 8,344.05 points.

A trader said profit-taking is the main reason for the drop of the PSEi after its strong climb in the past days.

The broader All Shares index fell 0.47 percent, or 23.19 points, to 4,884,65 points.

Most of the sector tracked the main index with Mining and Oil leading the pack after a 2.19 percent drop; followed by the Holding Firms, 0.95 percent; Property, 0.64 percent; and Industrial, 0.10 percent.

Services rose by 0.26 percent and Financials by 0.009 percent.

Volume for the day reached 1.25 billion shares amounting to PHP6.76 billion.

Losers led gainers at 106 to 90 while 50 shares were unchanged. (PNA)