MANILA -- Continued risk aversions given the geopolitical and trade concerns overseas resulted in negative close of Philippine main equities index while the peso remains resilient on Wednesday.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished the day’s trade down by 0.21 percent, or 16.94 points, to 7,915.29 points.
Regina Capital Managing Director Luis Limlingan said oil prices fell despite last week’s attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia after the country’s energy minister “assured that the Kingdom’s oil supply will soon be back online.”
He also noted that “gold prices were supported by the expectations of another interest rate cut from the US Fed but it traded on a narrow range as investors waited for further clarity on the central bank’s stance on future monetary policy.”
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has started its two-day monetary policy meeting, scheduled for September 17-18, 2019.
With investors taking on a wait-and-see stance, most of the counters in the local bourse tracked the main gauge.
All Shares declined by 0.16 percent, or 7.77 points to 4,786.43 points.
Property registered the highest drop among the sectors with 1.15 percent, followed by the Industrial, 0.94 percent; and Services, 0.79 percent.
On the other hand, Holding Firms rose by 0.55 percent, Financials by 0.48 percent, and Mining and Oil, 0.33 percent.
Volume was thin at 451.06 million shares amounting to PHP6.74 billion.
Losers led gainers at 107 to 90, while 43 shares were unchanged.
On the other hand, the local currency remained firm and ended the day sideways to the US dollar at 52.2 from 52.26 Tuesday.
It opened the day at 52.17 from the previous session’s 52.33 start.
It traded between 52.15 and 52.26, resulting in an average of 52.215.
Volume declined to USD912.33 million from billion levels in recent days, with Tuesday’s total at USD1.14 billion. (PNA)
