Local markets on wait-and-see mode pending BSP, Fed rate decisions

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished on the red anew at 7,268.21 points, down 0.87 percent or 63.96 points. (Photo: qvist / ShutterStock)

MANILA — Investors stayed in the sidelines during Wednesday’s equities trading ahead of much-awaited policy rate announcements by both the US Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The same wait-and-see sentiment also kept the peso virtually unchanged.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished on the red anew at 7,268.21 points, down 0.87 percent or 63.96 points.

It was tracked by most of the other indices, with the broader All Shares lower by 0.77 percent, or 34.43 points, to 4,460.47 points.

Financials registered the highest drop among the sectors at 3.60 percent and was followed by the Industrial, 1.67 percent; Services, 1.54 percent; Mining and Oil, 1.30 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.29 percent.

Only the Property index finished up for the day after it increased by 1.68 percent.

Volume rose to 1.05 billion shares amounting to PHP4.94 billion.

Losers continue to surpass gainers at 121 to 66 while 54 shares were unchanged.

Landbank market economist Guian Dumalagan said reports that global index provider MSCI is considering to increase the weighting of Chinese shares in its global indices added to risk-off sentiment in the local stock market.

He said the PSEi also mirrored the performance of US stocks, which is also affected by the wait-and-see stance on the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) two-day meeting ending on September 26.

On the other hand, the peso ended the day at 54. 325, little changed from the 54.31 a day ago.

A trader said this is as expected ahead of the rate decision announcement by the Federal Reserve and the BSP.

For the day, the local unit opened at 54.29, sideways from its 54.245 start in the previous session.

It traded between its closing level and and 54.22, thus, the 54.269 average.

Volume reached USD623.4 million, lower than the USD668.35 million a day ago.

First Metro Investments Corporation (FMIC) and the UA&P Capital Markets Research, in the September issue of the monthly publication “The Market Call”, expect the peso to remain under pressure “in long term as long as the US dollar continues to rally and the country’s trade deficit linger.”

It, however, said that the peso “may experience a respite in the short-term” based on its 30-day moving average as of August.

Authorities said the peso has weakened by around seven percent to date.