MANILA: Both local stock barometer and currency closed weak on Monday following the stronger-than-expected jobs data in the United States that led to higher US Treasury yields and reduced the odds of Fed rate cuts later this year.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 0.92 percent to 6,458.64, with All Shares also down by 0.71 percent to 3,467.24 level.
All indices closed in the negative territory, with biggest losses coming from the Mining and Oil counter, declining by 1.92 percent.
It was followed by Financials, down by 1.62 percent; Services, down by 1.18 percent; Property, down by 1.07 percent; Industrial, down by 0.45 percent; and Holding Firms, down by 0.10 percent.
Losers led winners at 109 to 58, with 66 counters left unchanged.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said the weakness of the Philippine peso also influenced the bourse’s trading.
The local currency closed the day weaker at 58.79 to the US dollar from last week’s finish of 58.52, shedding 0
.27.
Ricafort said the US dollar-Philippine peso exchange rate on Monday was the weakest for the past 19 months, or since Nov. 3, 2022.
‘Going forward, the performance of the US dollar-peso exchange rate would partly be a function of intervention/defense as consistently seen over the past 1.5 years,’ he said.
The currency pair traded between 58.67 and 58.80, bringing the average level at 58.77 to the greenback.
Volume of trade plunged to USD604.85 million from USD1.23 billion last Friday.
Source: Philippines News Agency
