MANILA – The Philippine peso continued to show resilience after ending the week sideways against the greenback, but the main equities index slipped after a three-day rally on investors’ wait-and-see stance on the US’ stimulus program.
The local currency ended the week at 51.00 from 51.07 a day ago.
It opened the day at 50.888, stronger than its 50.98 start in the previous session.
It traded between 51.05 and 50.83, resulting in an average of 50.905.
Volume totaled to USD456.2 million, higher than Thursday’s USD420.1 million.
On the other hand, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) contracted by 2.50 percent, or 134.96 points, to 5,266.62 points.
All Shares slipped by 0.96 percent, or 31.32 points, to 3,219.50 points.
Most of the sectoral gauges also ended the week in the red, led by the Property, 4.63 percent; Financials, 3.02 percent; Holding Firms, 2.17 percent; Mining and Oil, 2.04 percent; and Industrial, 0.66 percent.
Only the Services index ended with gains after it rose by 3 percent.
Volume totaled to 696.58 million shares amounting to PHP7.95 billion.
Advancers led decliners at 101 to 90, while 36 shares were unchanged.
Regina Capital Managing Director Luis Limlingan attributed the risk-off sentiment during the day to concerns on the record 3.3 million jobless claims in the US for the week ending March 21, 2020, which analysts trace to the impact of the work stoppage due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
He cited news that the US Senate has approved the proposed USD2-trillion fiscal stimulus measure targeted to address the economic impact of the global pandemic.
Limlingan also cited a news report citing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as saying that the world’s largest economy is now in recession, but the Fed will “not going to run out of ammunition”.
To date, Covid-19 cases around the globe have reached more than 510,000, with the US now considered as the epicenter after registering the highest number of confirmed cases at 82,000, higher than China’s reported 81,285 cases. (PNA)
