MANILA – The peso ended Thursday sideways against the US dollar but the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended its two-day rally.
The local currency finished the day’s trade at 49.15 from the previous session’s 49.19.
It opened the day at 49.115 from 49.19 a day ago.
It traded between 49.19 and 49.07, resulting in an average of 49.114.
Volume totaled to USD809.55 million, higher than the previous day’s USD551.71 million.
“Investors sold ahead of the long weekend as the dollar retreated after the Federal Reserve signaled continued stimulus to prop up the world’s largest economy,” Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), after its two-day meeting from July 28-28, kept the Fed’s key policy rates between zero to 0.25 percent to support the US economy from the impact of the pandemic.
In a statement, the FOMC said “the path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus” thus, the need to prop up the economy that is suffering from “tremendous human and economic hardship.”
The price of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose as high as 1.3 percent to almost USD41.25 per barrel following reports that US stockpiles posted its biggest drop this year at more than 10 million barrels last week.
Meanwhile, the main equities index shed 0.63 percent, or 37.82 points, to 5,928.45 points.
All Shares also ended the day on the red after it declined by 0.23 percent, or 7.97 points, to 3,500.27 points.
It was a mix among the sectoral indices with Financials, Holding Firms, and Property lower by 1.43 percent, 0.78 percent; and 0.73 percent, respectively.
The Mining and Oil counter rose by 2.89 percent, Services by 0.63 percent, and Industrial by 0.32 percent.
Volume totaled to 1.34 billion shares amounting to PHP5.1 billion.
Gainers led losers at 114 to 78 while 47 shares were unchanged. (PNA)
