PHP, PSEi retreat ahead of Trump presscon

PHP, PSEi retreat ahead of Trump presscon (Photo: Donald Trump/Facebook)

MANILA—Profit-taking reigned in the currency and equities markets Wednesday, reversing the gains of both the peso and the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).

The local unit finished the day at 49.62 from 49.50 Tuesday, which a trader attributed to investors’ wait-and- see stance ahead of the press conference of US President-elect Donald Trump.

The trader said investors took advantage of the recent peso surge and book profit.

Concerns on what the US president-elect would discuss in his press conference made the markets jittery but the peso opened little changed against the dollar at 49.55 from 49.58 in the previous session.

It strengthened to as much as 49.52 but also weakened to 49.63 making the day’s average stayed at 49.56.

Volume of trade totaled to USD529.9 million, lower than the previous session’s USD669.5 million.

The currency pair was forecast to trade between 49.50 and 49.70 Thursday.

The same trend was seen on the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), which fell 0.58 percent, or 42.52 points, to 7,321.

This was its first slide since the start of 2017.

All Shares slipped by 0.20 percent, or 8.86 percent, to 4,408.27 points.

Most of the sectors ended the day on the red, led by the Holding Firms, which declined 0.79 percent followed by Services, 0.67 percent; Property, 0.42 percent; and Financials, 0.28 percent.

On the other hand, Industrial rose 0.36 percent and Mining and Oil, 0.25 percent.

Volume of trade involved 1.74 billion shares amounting to Php 7.15 billion.

Decliners led losers at 99 to 88 while 52 stocks remained unchanged.