MANILA — The local stock market faced a downturn late Friday (18 Jan 2023), influenced by net foreign selling and the depreciation of the local currency against the dollar, breaching the PHP56 mark during trading hours.
Closing the week, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recorded a decrease of 7.33 points, settling at 6,503.54, while All Shares saw a marginal increase of 0.57 points, reaching 3,451.78.
Claire Alviar, Assistant Research Manager at Philstocks Financial Inc., attributed the market’s decline primarily to net foreign selling amounting to PHP802.44 million. Alviar mentioned, “The sentiment was further dampened by the depreciation of the peso. Meanwhile, many investors were still waiting for a fresh catalyst to move the market.”
Sectoral indices displayed mixed results, with the Industrial sector leading gainers by increasing 84.12 points and surpassing the 9,000 mark. Other gainers included Mining and Oil, which rose by 62.17 points, and Property, gaining 27.46 points. However, Holding Firms led the losers, declining by 27.05 points, followed by Services and Financials, which saw decreases of 17.85 points and 11.06 points, respectively.
Despite the overall decline in share values, there were more gainers than losers among index members, with 106 gaining, 65 losing, and 59 remaining unchanged.
The Philippine peso closed at 55.97 to the US dollar, a slight depreciation from the previous day’s finish at 55.84. The peso opened the day at 55.85, trading between a high of 56.02 and a low of 55.77 against the greenback during Friday’s session. The weighted average for the currency pair was 55.87 to a dollar, and the trade volume decreased to USD1.39 billion from the previous day’s USD1.43 billion.
(el Amigo/MNM)
