Manila: The local stock market closed lower on Friday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of next week's monetary policy meeting, while the peso also weakened.
According to Philippines News Agency, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 1.07 percent to 5,999.13, while the broader All Shares also declined by 0.71 percent to 3,374.78. All sectoral indices closed in the red, led by Holding Firms, which dropped 1.91 percent, followed by Industrial at 0.83 percent, Financial at 0.69 percent, Property at 0.58 percent, Services at 0.54 percent, and Mining and Oil at 0.26 percent. The volume of trade reached 1.08 billion, with decliners outnumbering advancers, 100 to 86, leaving 67 shares unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, mentioned in a Viber message that "The PSEi ended lower at 5,999.13, down by 1.06 percent. The PSEi ended the week below the 6,000 level as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the BSP policy meeting." He also noted that sentiment was affected after the IMF warned about the Philippines' reliance on oil imports amid the Middle East energy crisis. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) Monetary Board is scheduled to meet on April 23.
The peso weakened on Friday, closing at 60.035 to a dollar from 59.97 the previous day. It opened at 60.09 from the previous day's 59.99 start, and traded between 59.95 to 60.14, bringing the day's average to 60.075. The volume of trade decreased to USD1.22 billion from USD1.70 billion on Thursday.
