Philippine Peso Strengthens to 57-Level, Stock Market Sees Decline

In Manila, the Philippine peso strengthened, reaching the 57 to the dollar mark on Friday, while the local stock market experienced a downturn. The peso ended the day at 57.83 against the US dollar, an improvement from Thursday’s close of 58.06. The currency last hit the 57 level on January 2, closing at 57.78. It started the day at 57.95 and fluctuated between 57.81 and 57.96, with a weighted average of 57.89. Trading volume increased slightly to USD1.66 billion from USD1.64 billion the day before. Conversely, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 0.85 percent to 6,061.33, and the All Shares index also declined by 0.51 percent to 3,629.28. According to Luis Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., the retreat of Philippine shares below the 6,100 level was due to investors taking profits after two days of gains, influenced by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ decision to keep interest rates unchanged. The market was under selling pressure as traders reevaluated their positions in light of a stable policy outlook. All sectors except Mining and Oil ended the day in negative territory, with the Property sector seeing the largest decline at 1.89 percent. The number of stocks that rose was slightly higher than those that fell, with 82 advancers compared to 81 decliners, and 69 stocks remaining unchanged.