Peso slightly down vs. USD ; PSEi ends flat

The trader said investors are looking for directions on the Fed rate, given that Fed Chair Janet Yellen is also set to retire February next year. (Photo by Debbie Tingzon/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MANILA— The Philippine peso stayed firm Tuesday but the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended flat as investors continue to weigh the impact of recent developments overseas as well as some domestic factors.

The local unit finished the day at 51.33, compared to 51.28 Monday.

A trader attributed this performance partly to the within-projected rise of domestic inflation rate for October 2017 to 3.5 percent from the previous month’s 3.4 percent and the news about Federal Reserve President William Dudley’s announcement of his retirement  mid-2018 or six months ahead of the end of his term.

The trader said investors are looking for directions on the Fed rate, given that Fed Chair Janet Yellen is also set to retire February next year.

With these factors, the local currency opened the day at 51.15, an improvement from the previous session’s 51.30.

It traded between its opening level and 51.35, resulting in an average of 51.23.

Some USD533.7 million changed hands, higher than the USD330.95 a day ago.

On Wednesday, the currency pair is seen to trade between 51.10 and 51.30.

The PSEi ended the week’s second trading day at 8,521.81 points, down 0.02 percent, or 1.26 points.

The broader All Shares followed with a 0.04 percent or two percent decline to 4,966.60 points.

Half of the sectors followed the main index, namely the Holding Firms, 0.71 percent; Industrial, 0.50 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.36 percent.

On the other hand, Financials rose 0.66 percent, Property by 0.64 percent and Services by 0.23 percent.

Volume for the day is thin at 862.44 million  shares amounting to PHP7.03 billion.

Losers led gainers at 104 to 87 while 53 shares remained unchanged.