Weak peso spooks investors
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) plunged to the 6,500 territory on Wednesday as investors sold off their position as the peso weakened further against the dollar.
The benchmark PSEi dove by 2.32 percent, or 155.52 points, to end at 6,554.08, while the broader All-Shares Index slipped by 1.71 percent, or 60.88 points, to close at 3,490.07.“So far, the peso is depreciating, trading at 57:$1 levels. This has negative effects on our country, especially since we are heavy on imports, making goods more costly,” said Claire Alviar, Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant manager for research and online engagement.
The peso settled at a new low of P57.135 against the greenback on Wednesday.
All sectors ended in the red. Holding firms index fell the most at 3.18 percent, followed by financials at 2.29 percent.
About 916.47 million shares amounting to P4.85 billion changed hands. Losers outpaced winners, 115-59, while 50 issues were unchanged.
AbaCore Capital Holdings’ shares, the most actively traded, rose by 3.1 percent to P2.66 each.
This was followed by: San Miguel Corp., down 1.02 percent to P97 and Acen Corp., down 3.7 percent to P7.03 following the announcement that its P30-billion bond registration was approved. Ayala Land Inc. went down by 4.52 percent to P28.55; Jollibee Foods Corp., down 1.29 percent to P244.40; and SM Prime Holdings, flat at P36.15.
Other active names were: BDO Unibank, down 2.97 percent to P124.20; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 0.22 percent to P181.60; PLDT Inc., down 2.3 percent to P1,697; and D&L Industries Inc., down 1.79 percent to P7.69 per share.
