Peso joins regional rally vs. USD; PSEi down on risk-off sentiment

MANILA— The Philippine peso tracked the regional rally Tuesday and continued to gain against the greenback even amid some risk-off sentiment, which disadvantaged the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).

The peso finished the day at 50.74 from Monday’s 50.79 finish, which a trader pointed to investors’ wait-and-see stance ahead of the release of the minutes of the Fed’s meeting last Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.

The trader said market players expect US monetary officials to hike key rates during the Fed’s meeting on Dec. 12-13, 2017 but this would only have clearer picture once minutes of the previous meeting comes out.

For the day, the local unit opened at 50.80, an improvement from its 50.88 start on Monday.

It traded between 50.72 and 50.88,  resulting in an average of 50.797.

Volume for the day reached USD584.9 million, higher than the USD577.1 million a day ago.

Meanwhile, the main stocks gauge gave up 0.39 percent, or 32.79 points, to 8,289.19 points.

Most of the other indices tracked the main index, with the broader All Shares losing 0.41 percent, or 20.07 points, to 4,851.68 points.

Only the Financials ended the day with gains among the sectors after it rose 0.11 percent.

Property led the losers after it fell one percent followed by the Industrial, 0.72 percent; Holding Firms, 0.38 percent; Services, 0.29 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.23 percent.

Some 1.94 billion shares amounting to PHP7.2 billion changed hands.  Losers led gainers at 124 to 78 while 48 stocks remained unchanged.