The local bourse’s main index barely moved Tuesday at the start of the shortened trading week ahead of the release of the United States inflation report for May but the peso improved against the US dollar. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 0.002 percent, or 0.11 points, to 6,507.26 points. All Shares, meanwhile, fell by 0.26 percent, or 8.93 points, to 3,467.25 points. Most of the sectoral gauges ended in the negative territory, namely Industrial, 0.62 percent; Mining and Oil, 0.46 percent; Financials, 0.26 percent; and Property, 0.005 percent. On the other hand, Services rose by 0.14 percent and Holding Firms by 0.12 percent. Volume reached 517.10 million shares amounting to PHP5.51 billion. Decliners led advancers at 127 to 68 while 43 shares were unchanged. Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales, traced the PSEi’s close during the day to investors’ wait-and-see stance for the release of the US’ May 2023 inflation report later in the day. He said other data releases for the week include the retail sales and Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing report. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will have its meeting this week and all eyes are on the decision for the Federal Reserve’s key rates. On the local front, among the trading drivers include the release of the March 2023 foreign direct investments (FDIs), which fell 30.7 percent year-on-year to USD548 million, the lowest in two months; and the April 2023 cash remittances. Oil prices fell by 3.9 percent to USD71.84 per barrel for Brent crude and by 4.4 percent to USD67.12 per barrel for the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) ‘after analysts highlighted rising global supplies and concerns about demand growth just ahead of key inflation data and a US Federal Reserve meeting later this week,’ he added. Meanwhile, the peso gained against the US dollar after closing Tuesday at 55.95 from 56.05 last Friday. It opened the trade at 56.09, weaker than its 55.999 start in the previous session. It traded between 56.13 and 55.93, resulting in an average of 56.047. Volume went down to USD834.75 million from USD979.2 million at the end of last week. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso-US dollar exchange rate eased slightly for the second consecutive trading day partly due to the drop in global oil prices. He said the lower oil prices are a plus to the further deceleration of the domestic inflation rate. Ricafort said the downward correction of the US dollar against other major currencies also contributed to the peso’s strength during the day. For Wednesday, he forecasts the peso to trade between 55.85 and 56.05 against the US dollar.
Source: Philippines News Agency
