MANILA – Trade and pandemic concerns continued to weigh down on Philippine shares while the peso ended sideways against the US dollar Thursday.
The local currency finished the trade at 50.00 to a greenback, almost unchanged compared to its 49.98 close Wednesday.
It opened the day at 50.05, also sideways from its 50.11 start in the previous session.
Its starting level is the unit’s weakest for the day after it strengthened to 49.95 mid-trade, resulting in an average of 50.013.
Volume totaled to USD848.93 million, higher than the USD671.3 million a day ago.
On the other hand, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 1.14 percent, or 70.57 points, to 6,118.26 points.
All Shares contracted by 1.17 percent, or 42.45 points, to 3,600.98 points.
Mining and Oil registered the biggest drop with 2.92 percent and was trailed by the Financials, 2.54 percent; Holding Firms, 1.45 percent; Services, 1.25 percent; and Industrial, 0.72 percent
The Property counter, on the other hand, gained 0.22 percent.
Volume totaled to 1.34 billion shares amounting to PHP6.75 billion.
Losers led gainers at 139 to 58, while 38 shares were unchanged.
“The main index closed lower once again as an increase in Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases and concern over trade friction between Washington and Europe drove investors away from equities,” Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said.
He said oil prices dropped almost 6 percent “after US crude storage hit another record and a second wave of infections ran rampant across the US.”
He added the price of Brent crude oil price declined by 5.5 percent to USD40.29 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by 5.85 percent to USD38.01 per barrel. (PNA)
