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MANILA – Local shares and currency recorded losses on Thursday after the government reported 4.3 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of the year.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 80.79 points to 6,449.66, with All Shares also down by 34.78 points to 3,445.38.
All sectors declined, with the steepest decrements coming from Mining and Oil, 315.71 points; followed by Industrial, 125.86 points; Holding Firms, 78.25 points; Property, 42.81 points; Services, 22.75 points; and Financials, 2.73 points.
“The market fell after a surprisingly disappointing Philippine second quarter GDP print of 4.3 percent, which was below consensus forecast of 6 percent,” China Bank Capital Corp. managing director Juan Paolo Colet said.
Colet added the slower-than-expected GDP result raised investor concerns that full year GDP growth will fall below the government’s target of 6 to 7 percent.
Losers outpaced gainers at 107 to 57, with 51 shares left unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso ended sideways on Thursday at 56.22 to a dollar from 56.20 on Wednesday.
It opened the day stronger at 56.25 from last day’s opening of 56.40 to the greenback.
The currency pair traded from a low of 56.13 to a high of 56.45, bringing the average level for the day at 56.31 to a dollar.
“Since the start of 2023, the US dollar-peso exchange rate is still higher by 0.465 or 0.8 percent versus 55.755 in end-2022,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said.
Volume of trade increased to USD1.24 billion from the previous day’s volume of USD996.2 million. (PNA)
