P53-to-the-USD Barrier Breached, Stocks Dip

The Philippine peso slipped even lower, breaching the 53-to-the-greenback psychological barrier, while local stocks tumbled to the 7,600-mark on Wednesday.

The local currency closed the day at 53.23 from the previous session’s finish of 52.95, thus weakening to an almost 12-year low since 2006.

It opened the day at 53 and its intra-day low reached 53.26.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 2.17 percent, or 168.32 points, to close at 7,602.98 points.

All the other indices tracked the main gauge, with the broader All Shares down by 1.60 percent, or 75.19 points, to 4,629.35 points.

The losing sectors were led by Holding Firms, which dropped by 3.27 percent; followed by Mining and Oil, 1.66 percent; Property, 1.53 percent; Industrial, 1.41 percent; Financials, 1.04 percent; and Services, 0.78 percent.

Volume reached 814.89 million shares amounting to Php7.165 billion.

Losers led gainers at 127 to 66 while 47 shares were unchanged. (PNA)