Lack of new leads weighs on pesos, PSEi

Both the peso and the stock market tumbled on Thursday, with analysts noting that investors preferred to stay on the sidelines and wait for new findings.

The currency weakened 2 centavos to 56.11 pesos against the dollar, while the Philippine Stock Exchange’s benchmark index (PSEi) shed 25.34 points, or 0.39 percent, to end the day at 6,539.36.

The broader All Shares index also fell, losing 10.94 points, or 0.31 percent, to 3484.71.

“Thursday’s close came as investors, both at home and abroad, were still digesting the latest economic data, waiting for new findings to impact the market,” said Claire Alviar, a research fellow at Philstocks Financial Inc.

“In terms of economic data, the decline in the Philippines’ gross international reserves also weighed on sentiment,” she added.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Meanwhile, Chief Economist Michael Ricafort said the Bank of Canada’s surprise rate hike had weighed on sentiment.

“In addition, market sentiment was also affected by the fact that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicted that global economic growth will slow to 2.7 percent in 2023 and then rise again to 2.9 percent in 2024, which is below average. indicator of 3.4 percent in the 7 years before. pandemic,” he added.

Analysts say investors can look to April’s unemployment data and May’s trade data due today, June 9.

The peso opened at 56.12 pesos: $1 and fluctuated between 56.08 and 56.21 pesos. Volume was $957 million, up from $841 billion a day earlier.

In the stock market, all sectoral indices closed in the red, real estate fell the most by 0.67%.

A total of 626.14 million shares were sold for 3.86 billion pesos.

The downs outperformed the ups, from 105 to 69, while 51 remained unchanged.