MANILA — Wait-and-see stance ahead of the Jackson Hole convention later in the week helped lift the peso against the greenback and resulted in the flat close of the main stocks index Tuesday.
The local unit finished the day at 51.24 to a US dollar from 51.49 Friday last week. There was no trading Monday due to the annual commemoration of the death of former Senator Ninoy Aquino.
A trader said market players took on a cautious stance for any comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi, both are expected to attend the annual economic conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Drop in US Treasury yields also boosted the peso, which finished the day in line with some regional currencies, the trader said.
The local unit opened the day flat at 51.45 and traded between its closing level and 51.50, which brought the day’s average to 51.37.
Volume of trade reached USD568.2 million, nearly half of the USD1.006 billion in the previous session
The currency pair is seen to trade between 51.20 and 51.40 Wednesday.
In another development, the Philippine Stocks Exchange index (PSEi) finished the day with a 0.01 percent, or 0.80 points, drop to 8,015.93 points.
The broader All Shares index gained 0.05 percent, or 2.32 points, to 4,737.16 points, which a trader said showed some optimism for fresh leads.
It was mixed results for the sectors with the Mining and Oil, Industrial, and Holding Firms rising 0.80 percent, 0.51 percent, and 0.34 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, Property lost 0.74 percent and followed by the Services, 0.15 percent, and Financials, 0.10 percent.
A total of 921.44 million shares amounting to PHP6.1 billion changed hands Tuesday.
Losers led gainers at 112 to 91 while 37 stocks remained unchanged.