MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended its two-day rally on Friday following reports of the biggest jobless claims in the United States, while the peso ended the day sideways against the greenback.
The main equities index shed 0.48 percent, or 34.69 points, to 7,238.46 points.
All Shares slipped by 0.19 percent, or 8.46 points, to 4,342.48 points.
Most of the sectoral indices also ended the trade in the red, with Financials leading the list after a drop of 0.73 percent.
Holding Firms declined by 0.66 percent, Property by 0.49 percent, and Industrial by 0.22 percent.
On the other hand, Mining and Oil rose by 1.43 percent and Services by 0.37 percent.
Volume totaled 147.24 billion shares amounting to PHP11.03 billion.
Gainers led losers at 120 to 103 while 42 shares were unchanged.
“Local shares closed lower as investors digested the biggest jobless claims surge since March last year, outweighing the unveiling of (US President-elect Joe) Biden’s stimulus plan,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
Reports said initial jobless claims in the US surged to 965,000 during the week ending Jan. 9, 2021.
Relatively, cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continue to rise in Europe, among others, prompting authorities to implement stricter lockdown measures, which in turn, add to anxieties over the global economy.
On the other hand, the peso finished the week sideways against the US dollar at 48.065 from 48.07 on Thursday.
It opened the day at 48.05 and traded between 48.08 and 48.041, averaging 48.053.
Volume totaled USD512.1 million, higher than the previous session’s USD449.05 million.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort traced the peso’s strength partly to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) report on the rise in the country’s gross international reserves to a record-high of USD109.8 billion as of the end of December.
Other plus factors for the peso during the day are the USD1.9 trillion stimulus package in the US, the statement of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that interest rates would be kept at their current level until there are troubling signs of inflation, the Covid-19 vaccine supply deal between the Philippines and AstraZeneca, and the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the Pfizer-BioNTec vaccine for emergency use, Ricafort said.
He forecast the peso to trade between 48.03 and 48.08 on Monday while the projected range for next week is between 48.02 and 48.12. (PNA)
