Peso hits P58.80:$1; PSEi down nearly 3%

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Building. PHOTO BY ENRIQUE AGCAOILI

THE peso and the stock market ended the week on a sour note with both hitting multi-month lows amid a continued lack of positive catalysts.

The currency fell for a third straight day, weakening by two centavos to P58.80 to the dollar — its lowest close in over 19 months and matching that on Nov. 3, 2022.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged by 2.93 percent, or 186.08 points, to 6,158.48. It last closed lower on Dec. 15, 2023 — over six months ago — when it ended at 6,255.74.

The broader All Shares also fell sharply, by 65.11 points or 1.89 percent, to 3,375.20.

Analysts said that both the currency and financial markets had taken their cues from each other and that sentiment also remained negative amid continued dollar strength and a tech sell-off on Wall Street.

The peso opened trading at P58.83:$1 and ranged from P58.78 to P58.88. Volume fell to P808 million, lower than the P1.281 billion recorded in the previous session.

The currency has now fallen by 5.6 percent since the start of the year but is still some way off from the P59:$1 record low hit in October 2022.

The PSEi's close, meanwhile, was also its intraday low and pushed its year-to-date performance to negative 4.52 percent.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso had taken its cue from the stock market, adding that the dollar having extended its gains against the yen was also a factor.

Philstocks Financials Inc. research associate Claire Alviar, meanwhile, said the PSEi had plunged "due to strong net foreign selling, recording a net outflow of P1.34 billion."

"[T]he weakness of the peso against the US dollar continued to weigh on sentiment." she added.

"Negative sentiment from our regional peers also affected the market's performance after Japan's May core inflation data came in slightly cooler than expected, jeopardizing the country's plans to raise interest rates."

Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis Limlingan pointed to mixed results on Thursday in the US following a run of record highs.

The S&P 500 topped 5,500 but then ended lower at 5,473.17. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also finished down 0.8 percent at 17,721.59.

Most Asian markets fell as a result.

In the Philippines, all sector indices ended in the red, with mining and oil down the most by 3.88 percent and followed closely by services, which plunged 3.78 percent.

Industrials had the lowest drop of 1.83 percent.

Decliners outnumbered gainers, 108 to 74, while 52 were unchanged.