Share prices dropped Wednesday on inflation concerns.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was down 59.46 points to 6,299.69, a 0.94 percent drop.
The broader all shares index was down 24.39 points to 3,882.43, a 0.62 percent drop.
Losers edged gainers 114 to 92 with 43 stocks unchanged.
The peso closed at 48.025, up from 48.038 on Tuesday.
The currency opened at 48.03 and hit a high of 47.96 and a low of 48.13. Trading turnover reached $1.2 billion.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said the drop was caused by “concerns regarding rising inflation and possible tax increases in the US.”
“Correspondingly, commodities creeped up post comments by US Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen that interest rates may need to be pushed up. Other investors sold on news with the release of April CPI and more earnings from the PSEi constituents,” he said.
“In the Philippines, April CPI remained elevated at 4.5 percent but saw improvement, slowing down from the previous quarter. In addition, blue chips such as Ayala Land, SM Investments, Petron Corp. and D&L came out with first quarter results were being digested and analyzed by the market,” Limlingan added.
Most actively Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.16 to P32. AC Energy Corp. was down P0.07 to P8.62. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. was down P0.20 to P51.70. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down P0.55 to P33.65. Megaworld Corp. was down P3. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was down P1.60 to P128.50. BDO Unibank Inc. was steady at P104.80. Greenergy Corp. was up P0.03 to P3.86. Bloomberry Resorts Corp. was up P0.05 to P6.45. – Ruelle Castro
