Manila: The peso ended Wednesday almost unchanged against the US dollar, but the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined due to lower growth forecasts on the domestic economy. The local currency ended the day at 59.21 from 59.22 close Tuesday.

According to Philippines News Agency, it opened weaker at 59.25 compared to the previous day's 59.08. It traded between 59.25 and 59.16, bringing the day's average to 59.21. Volume reached USD1.29 billion, up from the previous day's USD1.1 billion.

On the other hand, the local bourse's main index shed 0.28 percent to 5,959.94 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.10 percent to 3,462.70 points. Half of the sectoral indices also ended the day in the red, namely Holding Firms at 0.54 percent; Services at 0.37 percent; and Financials at 0.33 percent.

Meanwhile, Mining and Oil rose by 1.23 percent, followed by Property at 0.21 percent, and Industrial at 0.13 percent. Volume reached 657.57 million shares, amounting to PHP6.75 billion.

'The local market pulled back as investors dealt with the World Bank and ADB's (Asian Development Bank) downgrade of their Philippine economic growth projection, the decline in September foreign investments, the rise in October unemployment, and the weakness of the peso,' Philstocks Financials Inc. said in a market report.

ADB, on its updated Asian Development Outlook (ADO) released Wednesday, cut from a 5.6 percent forecast in September, the 2025 gross domestic product (GDP) to 5 percent. For 2026, it was reduced to 5.3 percent from 5.7 percent, all due to lower government infrastructure investment. WB, for its part, reduced its 2025 growth forecast for the country to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent due in part to weaker investment activity.