Manila: Sentiments among investors remain cautious partly on the Middle East crisis, resulting in the negative close of the local bourse's main index on the last trading day of the week, but the Philippine peso gained against the U.S. dollar. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dipped 1.10 percent to 6,236.44 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.59 percent to 3,395.05 points.
According to Philippines News Agency, most of the sectoral gauges also finished in the red, namely Services, 1.57 percent; Financials, 1.46 percent; Holding Firms, 0.84 percent; and Property, 0.23 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil rose 4.05 percent and Industrial, 0.15 percent. Volume reached 1.3 billion shares amounting to PHP10.8 billion. Decliners led advancers at 93 to 88 while 63 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, traced the decline in the PSEi to investors' mixed reactions to the day's trading flows. "Sellers eventually took control of the session, driven by positioning adjustments related to the PSEi rebalancing. The increased selling pressure weighed on the broader market and pushed the benchmark lower by the close," he added.
Meanwhile, the local currency gained against the U.S. dollar and finished the week at 61.24 from its 61.56 Thursday. It opened the day weaker at 61.47 from the day-ago's 61.41. It traded between 61.47 and 61.23, bringing the day's average to 61.32. Volume reached USD1.55 billion, up from the previous session's USD1.37 billion.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort, in a market report, traced the peso's appreciation to the weakening of the U.S. dollar against major currencies. He noted, however, that risks remain such as investors' worry on the temporary restraining order issued by a Pasig City court on Thursday against the PHP85 wage hike following the petition of two construction companies. The wage hike was supposed to be implemented in two tranches, the first one of which was supposed to take effect on July 25, 2026, at PHP60, while the remaining PHP25 will be implemented starting Jan. 20, 2027.
