MANILA -- Wait-and-see stance on the Federal Reserve’s rate direction following the latest jobs report from the US resulted in the depreciation of the Philippine peso while the US-China issues continued to affect local equities Monday.
The peso ended the week’s first trading day at 51.86 from 51.73 finish at the end of last week.
BPI Research said the peso depreciation is in line with its counterparts in the region.
It attributed its assessment on the local currency’s performance for the day to investors’ decision to digest “the latest remarks of Fed Chair (Jerome) Powell, which did provide a clear signal on upcoming rate cuts.”
This, after Powell said the world’s largest economy is in a good place even as growth of new jobs last September slowed to 136,000 from 168,000 in the previous month.
“Moreover, caution emerged ahead of the US-China trade talks amid reports that China is reluctant to pursue a broad trade deal with the US,” BPI Research said.
The local currency opened the day’s trade at 51.75 from 51.7 in the previous session.
It traded between 51.93 and 51.75, resulting in an average of 51.862.
Volume reached USD828.6 million, lower than the USD1.12 billion at the end of last week.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 51.70 and 52.10 on Tuesday.
Relatively, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 0.28 percent, or 21.38 points, to 7,683.22 points.
“The PSEi declined once again amid the lack of positive catalysts, with investors also staying cautious ahead of the US-China trade talks,” BPI Research said.
All Shares followed suit after it declined by 0.20 percent, or 9.43 points, to 4,666.17 points.
Half of the sectoral gauges tracked the main index, led by the Financials, which fell 0.86 percent. It was followed by the Holding Firms, 0.63 percent; and Industrial, 0.16 percent.
On the other hand, Mining and Oil, Property, and Services managed to stay up after rising 1.59 percent, 0.59 percent, and 0.38 percent.
Volume reached 712.03 million shares amounting to PHP5.84 billion.
Decliners led advancers at 97 to 86, while 57 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
