Local stocks down, peso sideways ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

The Philippine peso ended sideways after the US dollar weakened ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting this weekend while risk aversion resulted in a decline of the main equities index as the trading week came to a close. (PNA Photo)

MANILA — The Philippine peso ended sideways after the US dollar weakened ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting this weekend while risk aversion resulted in a decline of the main equities index as the trading week came to a close.

The local currency finished the week at 51.24 from 51.27 a day ago, which the BPI Research attributed to the scheduled meeting of US President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping, at the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Japan, to try to thresh out trade disputes.

It opened the day at 51.2, better than the previous session’s 51.38.

It traded between 51.27 and 51.17, resulting to an average of 51.233.

Volume amounted to USD726.79 million, lower than the previous session’s USD876.87 million.

The currency pair is forecast to range between 51.20 and 51.35.

On the other hand, a day after recovering the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 0.72 percent, or 57.93 points, to 7,999.71 points.

All Shares also ended the week on the red after it contracted by 0.62 percent, or 30.53 points, to 4,893.78 points.

Industrial registered the biggest drop among the sectors with 1.45 percent and was followed by the Financials, 1.06 percent; Property, 0.67 percent; Services, 0.34 percent; and Holding Firms, 0.29 percent.

Only Mining and Oil ended with gains after it rose by 0.85 percent.

Volume reached 1.3 billion shares amounting to PHP19.56 billion.

Decliners led gainers at 107 to 89 while 53 shares were unchanged.