MANILA -- The Philippine peso gained against the US dollar Thursday on news that trade discussions between US and China are progressing positively but this has no impact on local equities as investors remain cautious.
The local currency ended the day at 50.8 from 51.02 a day ago, which BPI Research attributed to the news, saying a deal between the US and China will probably happen before the new tariffs on Chinese goods take effect on December 15.
Citing news reports, BPI Research said the positive update on the US-China talks came a day after US President Donald Trump discounted an initial deal before the end of the year.
The peso opened better at 50.95 from 51.1 a day ago.
It traded between 50.95 and 50.78, resulting in an average of 50.859.
Volume totaled to USD1.02 billion, lower than the USD1.43 billion a day ago.
On the other hand, most of the counters in the local stock market ended on the red, with the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) down by 0.32 percent, or 25.02 points, to 7,790.91 points.
All Shares declined by 0.37 percent, or 17.18 points, to 4,640.63 points.
Services registered the highest drop among the sectors with 2.003 percent decline and were followed by the Industrial, 0.90 percent; Mining and Oil, 0.73 percent; Property, 0.42 percent; and Financials, 0.07 percent.
Only the Holding Firms gained during the day after a jump of 0.25 percent.
Volume reached 514.81 million shares amounting to PHP6.5 billion.
Decliners led losers at 117 to 68 while 54 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
