MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended the week on the negative but the peso managed to improve against the US dollar despite the negative sentiments.
The main stocks index shed 0.12 percent, or 7.14 points, to 5,838.66 points.
All Shares ended the week with a 0.04 percent, or 1.32 points, drop to 3,520.63 points.
Half of the sectoral gauges followed the main index and these are namely the Services, Holding Firms, and Industrial, which fell by 0.52 percent, 0.30 percent, and 0.27 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, Mining and Oil rose by 1.03 percent, Property by 0.71 percent, and Financials by 0.05 percent.
Volume totaled to 1.41 billion shares amounting to PHP3.7 billion.
Gainers led losers at 110 to 86 while 44 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, traced the local bourse’s performance for the day partly to the report about the rise of initial jobless claims in the US for the week ending on Sept. 19 to 870,000, higher than expectations of about 850,000.
Another factor for the negative sentiment is the anxieties for a second wave of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Europe.
Investors also took note of the discussions for another stimulus program in the US, Limlingan said.
Relatively, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) chief economist Ruben Carlo Asuncion, in a report, said the main equities gauge “may track global equity markets under the spell of risk-off” next week and may range between 5,700-5,900 level.
Meanwhile, the peso gained against the greenback after finishing the week’s trade at 48.46 from 48.56 a day ago.
It opened the day at 48.55, sideways compared to its 48.6 start in the previous session.
It traded between 48.55 and 48.43, resulting to an average of 48.472.
Volume totaled to USD713.5 million, higher than the USD585.15 million Thursday.
Asuncion forecasts the local to trade between 48.40 and 48.70 to a US dollar next week.
He said the greenback’s “strength may persist with lingering global risk-off sentiment coupled with expected lackluster US labor data.”
“Aside from the US Fed Chair (Jerome) Powell’s warning of an uncertain recovery path, US election uncertainty may be gaining traction,” he said.
He, however, said that corporates’ end-month demand for the dollar “will support higher USD-PHP”.
He forecasts the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to again keep policy rates unchanged during the rate setting meet of the policy-making Monetary Board (MB) on October 1 and this, he said, “may provide some lift to the PHP”,
“Elsewhere, the US non-farm payroll survey of less than 1 million (September) enhances global risk-off that’s likely to heighten demand for safe haven currencies led the USD,” he added. (PNA)
