THE peso continued to regain ground against the dollar on Tuesday even as bargain-hunting weighed on the stock market.
The currency strengthened by 7-and-a-half centavos to P58.58:$1, its strongest close in nearly a month, while the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slipped by 8.68 points, or 0.13 percent, to 6,734.21.
The broader All Shares, on the other hand, edged up 2.17 points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,791.77.
The peso opened at P58.69:$1 and ranged from P58.57 to P58.705. Volume narrowed to P1.323 billion from P1.359 billion at the start of the week.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso strengthened as the market anticipated a seasonal increase in overseas Filipino worker remittances.
Philstocks Financial Inc. research manager Japhet Tantiangco, meanwhile, said “the local market declined this Tuesday as investors quickly booked profits from yesterday’s (Monday’s) climb, reflecting their cautious stance amid lingering uncertainties.”
“Investors also digested the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office’s downward revision of its Philippine economic growth forecast for 2024 from 6.1 percent to 5.8 percent,” he added.
Net value turnover for the day was P5.38 billion, higher than the year-to-date average of P5.18 billion.
“Foreigners were still net sellers with net outflows amounting to P389.94 million,” Tantiangco said.
Unicapital head of research Wendy Estacio-Cruz, meanwhile, said “the PSEi closed nearly flat on Tuesday as investors awaited fresh catalysts, including the release of the November Philippine inflation data on December 5, which will help determine the potential for a [policy] rate cut.”
“The market is also looking forward to the next FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting on Dec. 18 and the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) interest rate decision on Dec. 19,” she added.
Sector results were mostly in the red, with holding firms down the most by 0.57 percent. Services and mining and oil were the only gainers, rising by 0.53 percent and 0.03 percent, respectively.
On a company basis, however, gainers outnumbered declines, 103 to 90, while 48 were unchanged.
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