Peso back at 50-level vs. USD, PSEi slides

FILE: The local unit finished the day at 50.98 from 51.02 a day ago, which a trader said is normal as investors take note of the recent statements by Yellen.(Photo by Debbie Tingzon/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MANILA — Hawkish tone by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen still resonates to the market so is the cautious tone on rate hikes, thus, the peso took a slight breather and was able to get back to the 50-level Thursday but not the main stocks gauge.

The local unit finished the day at 50.98 from 51.02 a day ago, which a trader said is normal as investors take note of the recent statements by Yellen.

The trader said the peso’s fluctuation is as expected as investors weigh the possibility of another rate hike later this year or otherwise.

For the day, the peso opened at 51.05, slightly down from the 50.98 a day ago.

It traded between 50.97 and 51.165, bringing the day’s average to 51.07.

Volume for the day reached USD881.5 million, up from the USD684.7 million Wednesday.

The currency pair is seen to trade between 50.90 and 51.10 Friday.

On the other hand, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 0.80 percent, or 65.88 points, to 8,156.04 points a day after recovering from a three-day drop.

The broader All Shares also contracted and fell 0.68 percent, or 32.84 points, to 4,818.25 points.

The sectors that tracked the main index include the Holding Firms, 1.18 percent; Property, 0.79 percent; Industrial, 0.77 percent; Financials, 0.34 percent; and Services, 0.18 percent.

Only the Mining and Oil registered gains after it rose 0.78 percent.

Volume reached 1.66 billion stocks amounting to Php10.6 billion.

Losers led gainers at 141 to 70 while 38 shares were unchanged. (PNA)