MANILA – Risk-off sentiments on account of the geopolitical conflict between Ukraine and Russia weakened both the main equities index and the peso on Wednesday.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 1.36 percent, or 100.59 points, to 7,304.02 points.
All Shares declined by 1.03 percent, or 40.31 points, to 3,880.74 points.
Most of the sectoral gauges also finished the day in the negative territory with Property declining 2.24 percent; Industrial, 1.67 percent; Financials, 1.01 percent; Services, 0.87 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.78 percent.
Only Mining and Oil gained during the day with a hike of 1.43 percent.
Volume reached 1.43 billion shares amounting to PHP7.78 billion.
Decliners surpassed advancers at 128 to 65, while 44 shares were unchanged.
“Local and global equities fell in what has become a volatile week as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened and stirred anxiety among investors,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales.
Limlingan said inflation worries in the US and Europe also increased following the jump in wheat prices on Tuesday.
He said investors are also awaiting the semi-annual hearing at the US House Committee on Financial Services wherein Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to discuss policy updates.
The negative close of the main equities index affected the local currency during the day after it depreciated to 51.42 against the US dollar from its 51.23 close on Tuesday.
It opened the day at 51.35 and traded between 51.455 and 51.32. The average level for the day stood at 51.391.
Volume rose to USD1.032 billion, higher than the previous session’s USD942.21 million. (PNA)
