MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished Monday in the negative territory due partly to upticks in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) Omicron variant infections globally, while the peso managed to end sideways against the greenback.
The main equities index shed 0.82 percent, or 60.05 points, to 7,237.61 points.
All Shares followed with a drop of 0.60 percent, or 23.21 points, to 3,828.38 points.
Most of the sectoral indexes also fell during the day with the Mining and Oil declining by 1.22 percent; Industrial, 1.15 percent; Holding Firms, 1.11 percent; Services, 1.05 percent; and Property, 0.81 percent.
Only the Financials index gained during the day after it rose by 0.48 percent.
Volume totaled 1.09 billion shares amounting to PHP6.7 billion.
Decliners led advancers at 112 to 57, while 51 shares were unchanged.
“Philippine shares fell as investors continued to digest the Fed’s (Federal Reserve) recent announcement to taper aggressively going into 2022 and monitor the spread of the Omicron variant globally,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales.
The Fed earlier indicated plans to increase the reduction in its monthly bond purchases, at USD60 billion of bonds each month starting January next year, which is half of the amount it made last November.
Fed officials also hinted for around three rate hikes next year, and two each in the next two years.
Meanwhile, the negative sentiments in the local bourse are less compared to the foreign exchange market and enabled the peso to close at 49.93 to a US dollar, sideways from its 50.02 finish last Friday.
The local currency opened the trade at 50.00 and ranged between 50.02 and 49.9.
Average level for the day stood at 49.954.
Volume totaled to USD887.35 million, lower than the previous session’s USD900.65 million. (PNA)
