Both the peso and the local stocks fell again Thursday as investors turned cautious ahead of a long weekend, with no trading scheduled for Friday in observance of All Saints’ Day Eve.
The peso closed at 58.85 against the US dollar Thursday, down from 58.69 Wednesday as investors remained wary over the impact of infrastructure spending slowdown on the economy amid a nasty corruption scandal.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index also declined by 34.09 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 5,929.68. The broader all-shares index lost 11.93 points, or 0.33 percent, ending the session at 3,593.28.
Analysts said optimism for a US interest rate cut was tempered by growing concerns over the local economy, particularly the potential impact of corruption issues on domestic growth.
Investor caution was further heightened ahead of next week’s scheduled release of October inflation data and third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figures.
Among the sectors, only the mining and oil index managed to end in positive territory, rising by 0.99 percent. Financials declined the most by 0.99 percent.
Value turnover improved to P5.85 billion. However, foreign investors remained net sellers, recording outflows of P354.32 million.
Losers edged out gainers, with 95 stocks declining against 82 that advanced.
DigiPlus Interactive Corp. came in as the top index gainer, adding 1.7 percent to P20.95. China Banking Corp. was at the bottom of the index movers, declining by 7.09 percent to P51.10.
