Manila, Philippines – The Philippine stock market and the local currency both experienced a decline at the beginning of the week as investors adopted a ‘wait-and-see’ stance.
According to Philippines News Agency, assistant research manager at Philstock Financials, Inc., the local bourse fell by 45.75 points (0.74 percent) to 6,116.14 on Monday, influenced by anticipation of key events like the US inflation rate, a meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and a forthcoming meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The All-Shares index at the Philippine Stock Exchange also dropped by 21.34 points to 3,295.52, with all sectoral indices closing in the red. The Mining and Oil counter experienced the biggest drop, plunging by 137.09 points to 9,556.04.
Alviar noted that among index members, Alliance Global Group, Inc. managed to gain, while Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. saw a significant drop. The day ended with more losers than gainers, and the net market value turnover stood at PHP1.29 billion. The mixed earnings results and a 0.3 percent drop in foreign direct investment inflow in August, along with Moody’s downgrade of its ratings outlook on the US government, impacted market sentiment.
The Philippine peso also weakened, dropping to 56.06 against the US dollar from Friday’s close of 55.96. The currency opened strong at 55.94, with trades fluctuating between 55.94 and 56.13 throughout the day, averaging at 56.05. The trade volume increased to USD1.18 billion from the previous volume of USD951.7 million.