The peso is rising further; PSEi resumes decline

The peso shrugged off news of a new banking crisis on Thursday, but the stock market fell on contagion fears.

The currency gained 9 cents to 54.86 pounds against the dollar, while the Philippine Stock Exchange’s benchmark index (PSEi) shed 61.9 points, or almost 1 percent, to close at 6404.91.

The broader All Shares shed 34.70 points to settle at 3443.82.

“Investors were concerned that the current problems in the banking sector could worsen further or they could negatively impact other sectors,” said Claire Alviar, a researcher at Philstocks Financial Inc.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Louis Limlingan said that “Philippine stocks have resumed their decline on fears of a wide-ranging banking crisis as a statement from Credit Suisse’s largest investor, the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, said it was unable to provide additional funding for the bank, which in turn caused sale”.

“Fortunately, the indexes managed to cut their losses after the announcement by the Swiss regulator that the Swiss National Bank would provide additional liquidity to Credit Suisse if needed.”

The peso opened at 55.01 pesos: $1 and hovered between 54.85 and 55.09 pesos. Volume reached $799 million, down from $899 million in the previous session.

In the stock market, all sectoral indices closed in the red, with financials falling the most by 1.7%, resuming the decline that began after two U.S. banks collapsed within 48 hours last week.

Decreasing ones prevailed over progressive ones, from 145 to 41, while 42 remained unchanged.