MANILA — The resiliency of the Philippine peso and the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shone through on Friday amidst negative sentiments due to concerns over US-China trade woes and worsening economic issues in Argentina and Turkey.
Local equities also suffered from the impact of uncertainties overseas but the PSEi managed to keep its footing after ending the week at 7,855.71 points, almost unchanged from the previous day. It rose 0.03 percent or 2.55 points.
Landbank market economist Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan said investors are on a wait-and-see stance after US President Donald Trump stressed commitment to pursue slapping Chinese imports about USD200 billion in tariffs as early as September 6.
Also, Argentina’s central bank announced a 15 percentage points increase on its interest rates to a global high of 60 percent in a bid to address depreciation of its currency.
The currency crisis in Turkey continue to add to the negative sentiment, Dumalagan said.
Amid this development, the broader All Shares posted a higher jump of 0.24 percent, or 11.43 points, to 4,772.33 points.
Most of the sectors, however, ended the week down with Financials posting the highest drop of 0.64 percent and was followed by the Mining and Oil, 0.49 percent; Property, 0.14 percent; and Industrial, 0.13 percent.
Volume for the day reached 1.08 billion shares amounting to Php8 billion.
With uncertainties high, losers led gainers at 107 to 91 while 46 stocks were unchanged.
Also, the local currency finished the week’s trade at 53.475 from 53.43 a day ago.
A trader said the peso mirrored its counterparts in the region on account of the economic news overseas.
For the day, the local unit opened sideways at 53.48 from 53.43 a day ago.
It traded between 53.51 and 53.45, bringing the day’s average to 53.475.
Volume for the day totalled to USD383.85 million, down from the USD501.29 million a day ago.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 53.30 and 53.60 next week. (Joann Villanueva/PNA)
