Share prices ended lower Monday on lack of strong leads.
The peso closed up.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was down 58 points, a 0.89 percent drop to 6,450.34.
The broader All Shares index was down 25.87 points or 0.75 percent to 3,441.24.
Losers edged gainers 112 to 60 with 50 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P4.22 billion.
The peso closed at 55.74 to the dollar, up from 55.73 on Friday.
The currency opened at 55.845 and hit a high of 55.70 and a low of 55.97. Trading turnover reached $1.11 billion.
The South Korean won and Indonesian rupiah led losses among Asian currencies against a strong greenback ahead of a week of central bank meetings and more economic stimulus from China, Reuters reported.
The dollar index rose marginally to 102.33, not far from a one-month low of 102 it touched on Friday. It was later trading at 102.35.
“Focus this week will be on Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s testimony to financial services panel and senate banking panel as markets look for clarification following mixed messaging from the Fed’s dot plot last week,” analysts at OCBC said.
In Asia, the Japanese yen reversed losses after hitting a near seven-month low as the Bank of Japan maintained its short-term rate target last week.
The Philippine central bank, which will meet this week, downgraded its current account deficit projections for 2023 and 2024 despite rising global financial uncertainties.
“(It) would need hawkish Powell testimony and dovish BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) meeting for the peso to push above 55.95 this week,” said Philip Sung Seng WEE, FX strategist at DBS Bank.
The yuan in China was also trading 0.4 percent lower as investors look for more information on economic stimulus and expect a rate cut later in the week.
“Focus remains fixated on whether there are stimulus measures in response to weaker economic activities in China,” OCBC analysts said, sticking to their expectations that support measures from the central bank will “shore up” sentiment.
Clair Alviar, analyst at Phil stocks Financial Inc., said investors sold stocks “following a negative spillover from the US markets last Friday.”
“Investors also took some gains after the two consecutive days of market rally while waiting for the meeting of the BSP this week,” she said.
Most actively traded Ayala Corp. was steady at P615. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down P0.50 to P33.50. BDO Unibank Inc. was steady at P140. Bank of the Philippine Islands was down P0.70 to P106.30. Ayala Land Inc. was down P0.05 to P24.40. Robinsons Land Corp. was down P0.20 to P14.30. ACEN Corp. was down P0.27 to P5.03. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was down P0.60 to P53.10. PLDT Inc. was up P26 to P1,286. Emperador Inc. was up P0.10 to P21.65.
