MANILA – The Philippines’ main equities index shed anew on Friday along with the local currency due partly to the start of the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 0.11 percent, or 7.36 points, to 6,539.91 points.
All Shares, on the other hand, rose by 0.32 percent, 12.85 points, to 4,055.42 points.
Most of the sectoral indexes tracked the main index, led by Mining and Oil, which fell 0.69 percent.
It was trailed by the Property, 0.64 percent, Industrial, 0.10 percent, and Holding Firms, 0.06 percent.
However, the Services index increased by 2.13 percent and the Financials moved sideways with a 0.01 percent increase.
Volume totaled 1.35 billion shares amounting to PHP6.95 billion.
Advancers led decliners at 117 to 76 while 37 shares were unchanged.
Relatively, the peso finished the trade at 50.4 against the US dollar, weaker than its 50.235 close a day ago.
It opened the day at 50.3 and traded between 50.47 and 50.2. Average level for the day stood at 50.361.
Volume totaled to USD1.28 billion, lower than the previous session’s USD1.47 billion.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the peso’s weakness to the start of the ECQ implementation during the day as well as the improvement in imports and exports data last June.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday reported the 17.6 percent year-on-year improvement in exports and the 34.2 percent expansion in imports, which, Ricafort said, are among the highest since January 2020 or before the pandemic.
He said improvement in manufacturing data also affected the peso since this “reflected more demand for US dollars to pay for imports that moved closer to pre-Covid levels/highs.”
He said 50.00 is the peso’s major resistance given the current developments due in part to the pandemic. (PNA)
