By Joann Villanueva/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Risk aversion capped the Philippine peso’s rise against the US dollar Wednesday and also triggered another slide in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).
The local currency finished the trade at 51.50 from the previous session’s 51.365.
It opened the day at 51.46 and traded between 51.45 and 51.57, which resulted to an average of 51.518.
Volume amounted to USD942.71 million, higher than the USD771.92 million a day ago.
A trader attributed the local currency’s weakness during the day to simmering geopolitical concerns, following US President Donald Trump’s declaration that any attack by Iran on “anything American” will be countered with “great and overwhelming force.”
Hopes for a cut in the Federal Reserve’s key policy rates also boosted the US dollar resulting to weakness of currencies in the region, the trader added.
With investors now on a wait-and-see stance, the main equities index, along with several other counters, ended the day on the red.
PSEi ended the trade down by 0.26 percent, or 20.52 points, to 8,013.57 points.
All Shares declined by 0.23 percent, or 11.49 points, to 4,897.51 points.
Holding Firms registered the highest drop among the sectors at 0.58 percent and was followed by Industrial, 0.37 percent; Services, 0.21 percent; and Financials, 0.15 percent.
Mining and Oil and Property, meanwhile, bucked the trend after rising by 0.46 percent and 0.22 percent, respectively.
Volume reached 2.25 billion shares amounting to PHP8.13 billion.
Losers led gainers at 108 to 86 while 56 shares were unchanged.
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