Manila: The Philippine peso ended Friday sideways against the U.S. dollar, but the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slipped due to profit-taking. The local currency ended the week at 58.7 against the U.S. dollar from its 58.55 close a day ago. It opened the day on a better level at 58.6 compared to the day-ago's 58.7. It traded between 58.77 and 58.53, bringing the day's average to 58.65. Volume reached USD1.38 billion, lower than the day-ago's USD1.65 billion.
According to Philippines News Agency, the local bourse's main index slipped 1.83 percent to 5,920.87 points, and the broader All Shares by 1.43 percent to 3,397.72 points. All the sectoral gauges also ended in the red, led by the Services after it fell 3.25 percent. It was trailed by the Financials, 1.76 percent; Mining and Oil, 1.63 percent; Industrial, 1.35 percent; Property, 1.06 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.44 percent.
Volume reached 26.2 billion shares amounting to PHP18.7 billion. Decliners led advancers at 110 to 65, while 75 shares were unchanged. Philstocks Financial Inc., in a market report, said 'investors took profits amid weak confidence towards the local economy's growth outlook.' 'This comes as the country's lingering corruption issues and headwinds offshore continue to cloud the local economy's prospects,' it added.
