Peso Remains Strong; Local Stocks Slide

The Philippine peso remained firm against the US dollar Wednesday but the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended its five-day winning streak in sympathy reaction to US markets.

The local currency managed to finish the day at 52.35 from 52.39 Tuesday.

A trader said the peso was able to remain strong amid the slide of local equities.

The peso opened the trade at 52.49, little changed from the 52.53 start in the previous session.

Its closing level is the unit’s strongest for the day after it dipped to 52.61. Average level for the day stood at 52.5.

Volume reached USD727.65 million, lower than the USD763.81 million in the previous session.

The currency pair is seen to trade between 52.30 and 53.60 Thursday.

On the other, the main stocks index’ rise was stopped following the decline in Wall Street, which gave up all its gains to date.

PSEi went back to the 7,200-level after it dropped by 0.51 percent, or 37.49 points, to 7,265.45 points.

Most of the other counters followed suit, with the broader All Shares down by 0.61 percent, or 26.70 points, to 4,371.64 points.

Only the Industrial index registered increase during the day after it rose by 0.27 percent.

Mining and Oil posted the biggest decline at 5.04 percent and was followed by the Holding Firms, 0.99 percent; Services, 0.81 percent; Property, 0.54 percent; and Financials, 0.35 percent.

Volume reached 902.68 million shares amounting to PHP7.06 billion.

Losers led gainers at 127 to 64 while 48 shares were unchanged. (PNA)