The Philippines stock market gauge and the peso ended lower Thursday on rising tensions in the Middle East.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped by 13.89 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 7,388.92. The all-shares index, however, rose 11.80 points, or 0.30 percent, to end at 3,982.66.
The peso also slipped to 56.37 against the US dollar from 56.18 Wednesday.
“Investors are bracing for more uncertainty as Israel starts a ground operation in Lebanon and tensions escalate in Hezbollah,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
Meanwhile, investors are also awaiting the September inflation rate slated for release Friday.
“Locally, the easing inflation expectations and strong manufacturing growth kept the market from drifting lower,” said Limlingan.
The market was trading in the green for most of the trading session, but the benchmark index turned negative on last-minute profit-taking.
Value turnover was strong at P7.074 billion, with 125 gainers against 83 losers and 49 unchanged issues.
Sectors were mixed, with miners leading the gainers, increasing by 2.57 percent and industrial by 0.38 percent. Services declined by 0.34 percent, while holding firms lost 0.24 percent.
Nickel Asia Corp. emerged as the top gainer for second straight day, climbing by 5.97 percent to P4.08. JG Summit Holdings Inc. was the worst performer, declining by 2.68 percent to P27.20.
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