Share prices ended lower Thursday, greeting the inaugural day of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the red.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was down 147.76 points to 6,155.43, a 2.34 percent drop.
The broader all shares index was down 52.89 points or 1.56 percent to 3,336.23.
Losers edged gainers 117 to 71 with 47 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P6.44 billion.
The peso closed at 54.975, up from 55.06 on Wednesday.
The peso opened at 55.06, and hit a high of 55.14 and a low of 54.80. Trading turnover reached $1.25 billion.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the recovery of the peso was on the back of the latest signals of a possible 50 basis points policy rate hike by monetary officials depending on economic data.
The peso see-sawed at the open but settled about 0.2 percent higher following statements from the central bank’s new governor late on Wednesday.
Incoming Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla, who assumes office today, told a media briefing he would consider more aggressive rate hikes to support the local currency.
Mike Enriquez, Sun Life Investment Management and Trust Corp. president, said the market’s fundamentals have to contend with investor sentiments to stage a respectable recovery after months of being in the doldrums.
“It’s very fluid right now. …investor sentiment is currently the one dictating the movement of financial markets. We all know interest rates have moved higher. So it’s bringing down attractiveness of equities,” he said.
“On the downside risk, we can see some downside risk on the PSEi. …If 6,000 breaks, then its support will be at 5,500. …on a risk-reward perspective, it’s favoring to a higher upside potential versus a lower downside potential,” he added.
Enriquez said investors have to contend with inflationary pressure, given its different effect to companies.
“The manufacturing sector will have been affected by higher input costs. (Manufacturers) could not pass on (the additional costs) immediately, as opposed to utility companies… The banks will definitely enjoy higher interest rates as an effect of adjustments in interest rates on inflation. But overall, oil prices and supply side disruption have been affecting everyone. That will really be a dampener on earnings growth,” he said.
Enriquez said the incoming administration needs to be on a “crisis mode” on day one of office to help the economy and market recover investor confidence.
“(It’s not like) the handover of the Aquino to the Duterte administration, where I think, there was no COVID-19, we had less debt. We had more revenues. But right now, it’s a different story. This new administration has a lot of work to do, to be able to show…investors they have a handle on the economy and they know how to steer the economy’s recovery,” he said.
Most actively traded Universal Robina Corp. was up P3 to P111. BDO Unibank Inc. was down P3.80 to P110.50. Ayala Land Inc. was down P1.30 to P25.50. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was down P11.90 to P184. SM Investments Corp. was down P38 to P782. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.45 to P36.5. PLDT Inc. was down P85 to P1,680. Converge ICT Solutions Inc. was down P0.65 to P21.15. Monde Nissin Corp. was down P0.18 to P13. Bank of the Philippine Islands was down P1.60 to P84.80.
