MANILA -- The drop in world crude prices broke the prolonged slide of the Philippine peso against the greenback while local stocks recouped recent loses in Tuesday's trading.
The local unit ended the day at 53.39, an improvement from the previous day’s 53.53 close, which a trader said is in line with the performance of other currencies in Asia during the day.
Oil prices, which have been on the rise, fell around 3 percent Monday after Saudi Arabia offered to increase supply in Asia.
Price of West Texas Intermediate crude fell around 3.4 percent to USD68.2 per barrel while Brent lost about 2.2 percent to USD73.22.
With this development, the local unit opened the day flat at 53.50 and ranged between 53.53 and 53.38. Average rate for the day stood at 53.46, sideways from Monday’s 53.52.
Volume for the day rose to USD504.59 million from day-ago’s USD290.75 million.
A trader expects the peso to trade between 53.30 and 53.50 to a dollar Wednesday.
Relatively, the local equities index went up by 0.17 percent, or 12.24 percent, to 7,381.68 points.
Another trader said bargain hunting lifted the main index due mainly to the strong jump of the services index, which went up by 0.98 percent for the day.
All Shares also tracked the PSEi after it improved by 0.06 percent, or 2.78 points, to 4,465.38 points.
Other counters that registered gains are the Industrial and Property, which rose 0.43 percent and 0.20 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, Holding Firms led those that finished on the red after it dropped 0.27 percent and was followed by Financials, 0.03 percent, and Mining and Oil, 0.01 percent.
Volume reached 456.02 million shares amounting to PHP3.59 billion.
Gainers led losers but on a tight space of 91 to 90 while 55 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
