MANILA – The Philippine peso improved against the US dollar Tuesday but the main equities index declined on anxieties regarding the scheduled end of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila on May 31.
Aside from the wait-and-see stance on the decision on the MECQ in Metro Manila, Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said there are few factors on trading because of the Memorial Day holiday in the US.
The local unit finished the day at 50.53 to a greenback from its 50.7 close last Friday.
There was no trading on Monday due to the observance of the Muslim holiday Eid’l Fitr.
It opened the day at 50.68, almost steady from its 50.73 start in the previous session.
It traded between 50.53 and 50.7, resulting in an average of 50.617.
Volume amounted to USD491.5 million, lower than the USD675.1 million at the end of last week.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 0.77 percent, or 42.36 points, to 5,496.83 points.
All Shares declined by 1.10 percent, or 36.96 points, to 3,313.02 points.
Most of the sectoral indices also ended in the red and these are led by the Industrial, which slipped by 2.91 percent.
It was followed by the Mining and Oil counter which declined by 2.86 percent; Financials, 2.30 percent; Property, 0.75 percent; and Services, 0.20 percent.
Only the Holding Firms gained during the day with a jump of 0.03 percent.
Volume of trade totaled to 1.36 billion shares amounting to PHP5.17 billion.
Losers led gainers at 156 to 37, while 35 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
