Share price ended lower Thursday as investors opted to take profit.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was down 48.07 points to 6,197.64, a 0.77 percent drop.
The broader all shares index was down 12.59 points to 3,840.31, a 0.33 percent drop.
Gainers edged losers 101 to 90 with 50 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P5.51 billion.
The peso closed at 47.94 to the dollar, up from Wednesday’s 47.875.
The currency opened at 47.855 and hit a high of 47.845 and a low of 47.98. Trading turnover reached $583.3 million
Investors turned short on several Asian currencies, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, as surging coronavirus cases and deaths across the region forced countries into fresh lockdowns and threatened their recovery from last year’s economic slump.
Most notably, investors turned bearish on the currencies of South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, and trimmed their long bets on China’s yuan and the Philippine peso according to a fortnightly poll of 12 respondents.
Taiwan and Singapore, hailed for their success in containing previous COVID-19 outbreaks, have recently seen a spike in cases, prompting social curbs and a race to ramp up vaccinations.
Short bets on South Korea’s won, the Taiwanese dollar, Malaysia’s ringgit, and the Thai baht were at their highest since April 8, while investors were the most bearish on Singapore’s dollar since March 25.
They, however, turned bullish on the Indian rupee for the first time in more than two months. The currency has firmed slightly since March-end despite a crippling second wave of infections and record deaths.
“Near-term rupee stability … is not a paradoxical de-coupling with COVID devastation. This is merely a tactical bet on distribution of resources, policy support and recovery hopes,” Mizuho analysts said in a note.
Markets turned cautiously bullish on the Indonesian rupiah for the first time since late February.
“It was another quiet trading session in the Philippines after another bout of earnings results from major US retailers slightly cooled fears of high inflation,” said Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp.
“Others remained on the sidelines after the media reported that the US and Iran restarted talks on a deal that will restrict the latter’s nuclear weapons development,” he noted.
Limlingan said investors also are still monitoring the progress of the covid vaccinations.
Most actively traded Dito CME Holdings Corp. was down P0.49 to P9.35. BDO Unibank Inc. was down P0.10 to P102.60. Ayala Corp. was down P8 to P711. Puregold Price Club Inc. was steady at P35. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.85 to P32.20. Converge Information and Communication Technology Solutions Inc. was up P0.46 to P19.96. SM Investments Corp. was down P24 to P900. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down P0.90 to P32.85. AC Energy Corp. was up P0.12 to P7.05. Bank of the Philippine Islands was down P1.35 to P80.25.
