MANILA – – Prospects for sustained economic growth bouyed the Philippine Stock Exchanged index (PSEi) Wednesday amid lower trading in most of the day while rising US interest rates backed the US dollar and resulted in further weakening of the peso.
PSEi ended flat at 8,920.29 points, 3.43 points,or 0.04 percent, lower than the 8923.72 points a day ago.
On the other hand, the broader All Shares rose 0.11 percent, or 5.54 points, to 5,144.17 points. Most of the sectoral indices also gained, led by the Mining and Oil, 2.18 percent, and followed by Services, 1.37 percent; Financials, 1.23 percent; and Industrial, 0.23 percent.
Volume for the day reached 672.17 million shares amounting to PHP6.53 billion.
Gainers led losers at 105 to 104 while 53 shares were unchanged.
The peso finished the day at 50.38, down from the 50.29 a day ago.
A trader pointed its weakness to corporate demand for the greenback for their mid-month requirements and the rising US interest rates.
For the day, the local currency opened at 50.35, down from the 50.18 a day ago.
It traded between 50.45 and 50.28, resulting an average of 50.38.
Volume for the day amounted to USD 1.11 billion from USD917.2 million Tuesday.
The currency pair is seen to trade between 50.20 and 50.40 Thursday. (Joann Villanueva/PNA)
