MANILA -- Both the Philippine peso and the local bourse closed the week’s first trading day down due partly to the lack of major releases in the US and to investors’ wait-and-see stance as the new tariff on Chinese goods slapped by the US starts.
The local currency ended the day at 52.105 from 52.05 Friday last week.
It opened the day flat at 52.17 and traded between 52.19 and 52.08. Average level for the day stood at 52.136.
Volume amounted to USD1.23 billion, an improvement from the USD989.53 million in the previous trading.
Also, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 0.77 percent, or 61.13 points, to 7,918.53 points.
Regina Capital Managing Director Luis Limlingan said investors took a breather given the Labor Day holiday in the US and their decision to look for safer haven due to fears of another recession of the world’s largest economy.
He also noted the 15-percent tariff on Chinese products took effect a day ago in the US.
“This is something consumers can expect to feel when buying everything from milk to diapers to some China-manufactured tech products like the Apple Watch,” he said.
The main gauge’s close was mirrored by most of the other counters, with the All Shares slipping by 0.25 percent, or 11.89 points, to 4,797.59 points.
Financials posted the highest drop with 1.62 percent, which was trailed by the Industrial, 0.84 percent; Services, 0.61 percent; Holding Firms, 0.53 percent; and Property, 0.17 percent.
Only the Mining and Oil index rose during the day with an uptick of 11.51 percent.
Volume reached 1.95 billion shares amounting to PHP5.27 billion.
Gainers led losers at 110 to 94, while 43 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
