MANILA – The local bourse returned from the holiday weak on Thursday, falling to the 6,600 mark even as the peso closed sideways.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended the day lower by 0.94 percent, or 63.42 points, at 6,677.65 after a two-day trading break amid the holidays, with All Shares also down by 0.95 percent, or 33.72 points, at 3,525.87.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said the PSEi’s closing was a new two-month low since Feb. 2.
Philstocks Financial, Inc. research and engagement officer Mikhail Plopenio also said “investors took cues from the hawkish pause of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in its recent policy meeting.”
“BSP rate cut hopes were tempered amid mounting inflationary risks at home. Also, negative spillovers from Wall Street driven by the higher-than-expected US inflation for March clouded investors’ sentiment,” Plopenio added.
He said the local index stayed in the red territory for the whole session.
Among sectoral indices, only Financials and Mining and Oil closed in the green, gaining 1.10 and 1.03 percent, respectively.
Property led losers with a 3.54-percent shedding, followed by Industrial (-1.20 percent), Industrial (-1.20 percent), Holding Firms (-0.95 percent), and Services (-0.37 percent).
Decliners outnumbered gainers at 135 to 57, with 50 left unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso closed sideways at 56.50 to the US dollar from Monday’s finish of 56.49 to the greenback.
The peso opened strong at 56.53 from the previous trading’s kick-off at 56.70 to the dollar.
The currency pair traded between 56.42 and 56.58, bringing the day’s average to 56.50.
The volume of trade increased to USD1.31 billion from USD1.22 billion. (PNA)
