MANILA – The local bourse’s main index ended the week on the negative territory while the peso also slipped on Friday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 0.79 percent, or 52.66 points, to 6,625.26 points.

All Shares followed with a decline of 0.57 percent, or 20.08 points, to 3,526.92 points.

Majority of the sectoral gauges also slipped, led by Industrial which contracted by 1.30 percent.

It was followed by Financials, 0.97 percent; Services, 0.84 percent; Holding Firms, 0.45 percent; and Property, 0.30 percent.

Only the Mining and Oil index gained during the day, increasing by 0.22 percent.

Total volume reached 635.54 million shares amounting to PHP2.91 billion.

Decliners led advancers at 103 to 69, while 54 shares were unchanged.

“Philippine equities tumbled on a mixed batch of US earnings reports, adding some precaution that the US economy is not out of the woods yet,” Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales Luis Limlingan said.

Limlingan said markets in general edged lower as the Federal Reserve resumed hiking interest rates.

“The mixed corporate earnings results added more pressure on local equities as well. Oil prices settled higher Thursday, with Brent crude topping $84 a barrel for the first time since April, supported by supply tightness following OPEC+ production cuts and renewed bullishness on the outlook for Chinese demand and global growth,” he said.

Brent crude increased USD1.32 or 1.6 percent to USD84.35 per barrel while WTI crude grew 1.7 percent to USD80.09.

Meanwhile, the peso closed at 54.91 to a dollar from 54.56 the previous day.

It opened the day at 54.75 and traded between 54.75 and 54.92.

The average level for the day stood at 54.84.

Volume increased to USD1.09 billion from Thursday’s PHP914.1 million.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort traced the peso’s performance to the increase in global crude oil prices and the wider budget deficit data released by the Treasury on Friday.

For Monday, Ricafort said the peso exchange rate could range at 54.80 to 55.00 levels.

For next week, the peso exchange rate could range at 54.60 to 55.10 levels. (PNA)