MANILA – The main equities index and the peso ended the week in the negative Friday due partly to the hike in the Federal Reserve’s key rates and the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
After a three-day rally, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 1.61 percent, or 114.82 points, to 7,007.63 points.
All Shares followed with a decline of 1.11 percent, or 41.92 points, to 3,718.04 points.
Most of the sectoral counters also ended the week down, namely Financials, 2.54 percent; Industrial, 2.03 percent; Holding Firms, 1.42 percent; Services,1.16 percent; and Property, 0.21 percent.
Only Mining and Oil gained during the day after it rose by 5.72 percent.
Volume reached 1.65 billion shares amounting to PHP27.59 billion.
Decliners led advancers at 100 to 81, while 49 shares were unchanged.
Luis LImlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales, attributed the negative close of the PSEi to “the realigning of the latest results of the FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange) rebalancing.”
FTSE is part of a range of gauges designed to help investors benchmark their investment globally.
“Others also sold on news as investors priced in the outcome of the recent Fed meeting and shrugged Kremlin’s dismissal of news on positive progress in Ukraine-Russia peace talks,” he said.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), after its March 15-16 meeting, hiked the Federal Reserve’s key rates by 25 basis points, bringing it to between 0.25 to 0.5 percent.
Its decision was the first since December 2018 and was made to help address the surge in the US consumer price index (CPI).
Meanwhile, the local currency ended the week’s trade at 52.335 from its 52.14 finish on Thursday.
It opened the day at 52.2, little changed from its 52.18 start in the previous session.
It traded between 52.43 and 52.2, bringing the day’s average at 52.336.
Volume totaled USD1.445 billion, higher than the previous day’s USD998.2 million. (PNA)
