MANILA – The wait-and-see stance on the Federal Reserve's rate decision this week, along with concerns on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, weakened both the local stock barometer and the peso on Monday.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 4.15 percent, or 295.24 points, to 6,816.95 points.
All Shares followed with a decline of 3.37 percent, or 126.87 points, to 3,638.49 points.
All the sectoral gauges also finished in the negative territory, led by the Services with a contraction of 5.27 percent.
Mining and Oil trailed with a drop of 4.64 percent as well as Property, 3.92 percent; Financials, 3.88 percent; Industrial, 3.68 percent; and Holding Firms, 3.57 percent.
Volume reached 2.59 billion shares amounting to PHP8.91 billion.
Decliners led advancers at 190 to 34, while 28 shares were unchanged.
“Philippine shares closed in the red as investors weighed remarks from Russian President Vladimir Putin about diplomatic discussions with Ukraine against a weaker-than-expected print on US consumer sentiment,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted in reports saying “there are certain positive shifts” regarding negotiations with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will have its second meeting for the year on March 15-16, and it is widely expected to announce a rate hike partly on the acceleration of inflation rate in the US.
At home, the local currency finished the day at 52.475 against the US dollar, a depreciation from its 52.29 close last Friday.
It opened the day at 52.32 and traded between 52.49 and 52.32.
The average level for the day stood at 52.423.
Volume reached USD806.55 million, lower than the USD1.099 billion in the previous session. (PNA)
