MANILA — Investors’ concerns over a possible worsening of the US-China trade war if the November meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping does not yield the desired results, pulled down the local bourse but the Peso managed to stay firm during Tuesday’s trading.
The local currency ended the day’s trade at 53.59 from 53.56 Monday, which a report from the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) attributed to the US-China trade tension.
For the day, the currency pair opened at 53.61, little changed from the 53.57 in the previous session. It traded between 53.66 and 53.54, resulting in an average of 53.606.
Volume reached USD726.23 million, higher than the USD645.25 million a day ago.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 53.58 and 53.60 Wednesday.
On the other hand, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 1.31 percent, or 92.97 points, to 7,016.06 points.
Regina Capital Managing Director Luis Limlingan said the risk-off sentiment affected not only local stocks but US stocks as well, also due in part to concerns about global growth following the renewed US-China issues.
With this latest news, most of the counters ended the day in the red, with All Shares down by 1.001 percent, or 43.59 points, to 4,309.80 points.
The sectors were led by Holding Firms, 1.87 percent; followed by Industrial, 1.49 percent; Services, 1.38 percent; and Property, 1.25 percent.
Mining and Oil and Financials, on the other hand, remained strong after these rose by 0.69 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively.
Volume reached 429.04 million shares amounting to PHP3.95 billion.
Losers led gainers 94 to 59 while 62 shares were unchanged. ( Joann Villanueva/PNA)
