MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended lower on Monday as investors stayed at the sidelines and ahead of the President’s Day holiday in the US while the peso ended sideways even after touching the 47-level.
The main equities index shed 0.45 percent, or 31.80 points, to 6,959.21 points.
All Shares declined by 0.36 percent, or 15.30 points, to 4,207.66 points.
Most of the sectoral indexes also ended the day in the negative territory, led by Property, which slipped by 0.80 percent.
It was trailed by Holding Firms, 0.73 percent; Services, 0.24 percent; and Industrial, 0.16 percent.
On the other hand, Mining and Oil rose by 0.17 percent and Financials by 0.05 percent.
Volume totaled 18.73 billion shares amounting to PHP19.36 billion.
Decliners led advancers at 125 to 90, while 51 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said investors also partly analyzed the earnings reports of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) and SM Prime Holdings.
“Many are also eyeing the prospect of more financial aid from Washington to boost economic recovery while Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases are falling and vaccine distribution ramps up,” he added.
Meanwhile, the peso touched the 47-level mid-trade but ended the day at 47.93 from 48.045 on Thursday last week.
There was no trading on Friday last week due to the Chinese New Year holiday.
It opened the day at 48.04 and traded between 48.06 and 47.9.
The average level for the day stood at 47.952.
Volume totaled to USD1.512 billion from USD727.5 million in the previous session.
Earlier, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso is expected to remain strong this year.
This after ending 2020 at its four-year high and among the strongest in the world, backed by weaker exports, among others, due to the pandemic, he said. (PNA)
