MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) further slipped to 6,100-level while the local currency shed anew on Wednesday’s trading.
The PSEi closed at 6,179.63, shedding by 32.76 points, with all shares also declining by 13.32 points to 3,339.63.
“The local bourse extended its decline, dropping by 32.76 points (0.53 percent) to 6,179.63 as the sentiment was further dragged by the expectation of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that our country may miss the DBCC’s economic growth target of 6 to 7 percent due to the ongoing economic headwinds coupled with the impact of its monetary tightening,” Philstocks Financial Inc. research associate Claire Alviar said.
Gainers on mid-week’s trading include Industrial, up by 49.77 points to 8,714.78; Mining and Oil, 39.37 points to 9,849.01; and Holding Firms, 7.87 points to 5,840.53.
On the other hand, shares of Financials declined by 39.81 points to 1,830.66; Property, 22.80 to 2,586.12; and Services, 2.58 points to 1,514.86.
“(M)arket participation was weak with the net market value turnover recording at PHP3.27 billion, lower than this month’s average so far of PHP3.99 billion,” Alviar added.
She cited Monde Nissin Corp. as the day’s top gainer, with shares surging by 9.06 percent, while Bank of the Philippine Islands had the largest drop of 2.13 percent.
Decliners outpaced advancers at 107 to 64, with shares of 46 firms left unchanged.
Meanwhile, the peso closed weaker by 0.35 to 56.73 to a US dollar from last day’s closing of 56.38.
The local currency opened sideways at 56.32 from previous day’s opening at 56.30.
The currency pair traded between 56.30 and 56.75, bringing the average level for the day at 56.52 to the greenback.
Trade volume surged to USD1.56 billion from USD1.44 billion on Tuesday.
“For tomorrow, the US dollar/peso exchange rate could range at the 56.60 to 56.85 levels,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said. (PNA)
