Manila: A wait-and-see stance resulted in another drop for the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) and the peso on Wednesday. The local bourse's main index shed 1.04 percent to 6,267.85 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.53 percent to 3,421.35 points.
According to Philippines News Agency, half of the sectoral gauges tracked the main index - Services, which declined by 3.01 percent; Holding Firms, by 0.28 percent; and the Financials, by 0.08 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil rose by 1.30 percent; Industrial, by 0.40 percent; and Property, by 0.24 percent. Volume remained thin at 711.22 million shares amounting to PHP6.49 billion. Decliners led advancers at 105 to 89, while 48 shares were unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales, said profit-taking continued 'as investors turned cautious amid continued peso depreciation.' 'The selling pressure pushed the benchmark index below the 6,300 level as sentiment remained subdued. Attention is likely to remain on currency movements and broader market conditions in the near term,' he said. Meanwhile, the local currency depreciated anew against the US dollar and closed the day at 61.75 from the previous day's 61.74. It opened the day at 61.73 from Tuesday's 61.69, and traded between 61.75 and 61.73. The day's average stood at 61.74. Volume reached nearly USD1.27 billion, way over the previous session's USD752.5 million.
