MANILA -- The Philippine peso ended the week on a positive note, inspired by the additional hike in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) key rates Thursday but the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) got the jitters due to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report citing risks to the local economy.
The local currency ended the week at 54.02, better than the 54.23 a day ago.
A trader said some investors were assured that inflation will be addressed with the help of monetary policy and that inflationary pressures will be limited now as the central bank takes on a strong stance against inflation.
Inflation as of end-August this year averaged at 4.8 percent, with the August level alone rising to 6.4 percent due to supply-side factors namely the sustained increase in the prices of rice and vegetables, among others, due to lack of supply.
Monetary officials on Thursday maintained that inflation is still seen to peak in the third quarter this year.
On Friday, the central bank announced that inflation is seen to further rise to 6.8 percent this September, higher than the 6.4 percent forecast of the Department of Finance (DOF).
For the day, the local currency opened at 54.1, little changed compared to the 54.275 a day ago.
It traded between 54.16 and 54.00, resulting to an average of 54.073.
Volume reached USD699.7 million, lower than the USD727.37 million a day ago.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 54.00 and 54.40 next week.
On the other hand, the PSEi finished the week at 7,276.82 points, down 0.60 percent or 43.77 points.
Guian Dumalagan, Landbank market economist, said Thursday’s window dressing due to expectations of another hike in the BSP rates and the positive outcomes overseas are not enough to sustain PSEi’s rise.
Thus, the negative close even of the All Shares, which dropped 0.42 percent, or 18.89 points.
It was a mix among the sectors, with most also finishing the week on the red.
Property registered the highest decline at 2.37 percent and was followed by the Industrial, 1.24 percent; Holding Firms, 0.83 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.79 percent.
On the other hand, Financials rose by 1.94 percent and Services by 0.66 percent.
Volume reached 1.02 billion shares amounting to PHP6 billion.
Losers surpassed gainers anew at 99 to 85 while 50 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
