The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEI) ended the day in the negative territory a few hours before the sixth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Rodrigo R. Duterte while the peso ended the day sideways.
The main equities index shed 2.27 percent, or 148.13 points, to 6,372.61 points.
All Shares went down by 1.82 percent, or 73.36 points, to 3,965.15 points.
All the sectoral gauges also ended lower, led by the Holding Firms which fell 2.43 percent.
It was trailed by the Financials after it declined by 2.34 percent as well as Services, 2.09 percent; Property, 2.03 percent; Industrial, 1.67 percent; and Mining and Oil, 1.17 percent.
Volume totaled 1.95 billion shares amounting to PHP4.15 billion.
Decliners surpassed advancers at 151 to 49, while 39 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said most expected the President to “discuss how he will shepherd the country out of the pandemic.”
“The other narrative theme will focus on the administration’s heirloom legacies,” he said.
Another factor that will be in play in this week’s equities trading is the meeting of the Federal Reserve on Thursday as many will be looking to the latest guidance of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, he said.
“Federal Reserve officials aren’t expected to signal a reduction in support for the US economy when they meet but will debate how to scale back massive bond purchases when the time comes,” Limlingan said.
He added pressures for the Fed to reduce bond purchases “sooner rather than later has probably been eased by the recent slide in bond yields, as investors worry the spreading Delta coronavirus variant could sap the recovery.”
Meanwhile, the peso ended the day at 50.35 from 50.34 Friday last week.
It opened the day at 50.33, weaker than its 50.1 start in the previous session.
It traded between 50.4 and 50.265, resulting in an average of 50.341.
Volume totaled USD944.37 million, higher than the USD804.6 million in the last session.
Source: Philippines News Agency