MANILA – The local main equities index declined anew Wednesday while the peso ended flat against the US dollar due mainly to the continued rise of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed by 0.58 percent, or 37.29 points, to 6,377.79 points.
All Shares also declined and ended the day at 3,808.29 points, down 0.26 percent or 9.82 points.
Most of the sectoral gauges also ended the day on the red, led by the Property, which fell 2.04 percent.
Mining and Oil index slipped by 0.99 percent, Holding Firms by 0.39 percent, and Financials by 0.05 percent.
On the other hand, Industrial rose by 0.49 percent and Services by 0.15 percent.
Volume totaled 1.75 billion shares amounting to PHP6.8 billion.
Gainers led losers at 112 to 89, while 46 shares were unchanged.
“Philippine stocks finished mostly lower as a spike in new cases sent most value stocks lower, while other investors appeared to try and position their portfolios with less than a week until November 3,” Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said referring to the US presidential polls next week.
Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the US and some European countries, with several countries implementing stricter movement restrictions.
Limlingan said additional anxieties came from news that Pfizer has said that late-stage clinical studies on its possible Covid-19 vaccine has not reached a key milestone, and Novavax delayed its studies by a month.
He also cited news reports saying Russia started the production of another vaccine that has not completed trials.
Meanwhile, the peso ended the day flat at 48.375 relative to its close against the US dollar Tuesday.
It opened the day’s trade at 48.35, sideways from its 48.4 start a day ago.
It traded between 48.4 and 48.33, resulting in an average of 48.369.
Volume totaled to USD534.6 million, lower than day-ago’s USD838.87 million. (PNA)
