MANILA – Investors were again on the wait-and-see mode ahead of September’s inflation data, resulting in a negative close for both the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) and the peso Monday.
The main stocks gauge shed 0.75 percent, or 54.74 points, to 7,222.08 points, which Landbank market economist Guian Dumalagan traced to the flat close of t US stocks at the end of last week.
He said investors also stayed at the sidelines ahead of the release of the September 2018 inflation report on Friday.
“The BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) has given a wide range, painting the possibility that this could hit as high as 7.1 percent,” he said.
The drop of the main index was mirrored by the All Shares, which fell 0.51 percent, or 22.83 points, to 4,442.09 points.
It is a mix among the sectors with Industrial, Holding Firms, Mining and Oil, and Property down by 1.62 percent, 1.39 percent, 1.31 percent, and 0.12 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, Services rose by 0.49 percent and Financials, 0.007 percent.
Volume reached 705.52 million shares amounting to PHP4.2 billion.
Losers led gainers at 101 to 75 while 53 shares were unchanged.
Also, the peso finished the day at 54.11 from 54.02 Friday last week.
A trader said this is the wait-and-see stance ahead of the inflation report at the end of this week’s trading day.
For the day, the unit opened at 54.03 from 54.1 in the previous session.
It traded between 54.13 and its opening level, resulting to an average of 54.095.
Volume reached USD385.7 million, lower than the USD699.7 million at the end of last week.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 54.00 and 54.20 Tuesday. (Joann Villanueva/PNA)
