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MANILA – Local shares and the peso finished Tuesday weak as lower exports data ahead of the United States’ inflation report and China’s export data disappointed traders.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 34.81 points to 6,472.97, with all shares down by 12.81 points to 3,461.11.
“Philippine shares succumbed to profit taking ahead of July’s consumer price index report, out Thursday. The inflation metric could put Wall Street’s belief in a soft landing to the test. Economists polled by Dow Jones are calling for a monthly increase of 0.2 percent in July and a year-on-year rise of 3.3 percent,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
“In addition, growth concerns from China pulled down sentiment around neighboring regions wherein the country is a strong trading partner,” he added.
Only two counters closed in the green, including Services and Industrial, with shares rising by 8.49 and 6.17 points, respectively.
Those in the negative territory include Holding Firms, down by 58.12 points; Financials, 17.30 points; Property, 3.25 points; and Mining and Oil, 0.17 points.
Losers outnumbered gainers at 91 to 72, while 66 issues were unchanged.
Meanwhile, peso further weakened to 56.24 to a dollar from Monday’s finish of 56.02.
The peso started the day weak at 56.18 compared to 55.65 kick-off the previous day.
The currency pair traded between 56.14 and 56.38, bringing this day’s average level to 56.26 to a dollar.
Total volume traded reached USD1.15 billion, higher than USD973.75 million on Monday. (PNA)
