Share prices ended lower Wednesday on profit-taking ahead of the United States’ latest monetary policy decision due overnight.
The peso closed up.
Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at China Bank Capital Corp., said the market suffered a “heavy” foreign selling, recorded at a net sell of P530 million, across many blue chips and other index stocks as positions adjusted ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy rate decision.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was down 73.2 points, a 1.12 percent drop to 6,434.06.
The broader all shares index was up 30.21 points or 0.87 percent to 3,437.04.
Losers edged gainers 118 to 72 with 41 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P11.45 billion.
The peso closed at 55.94 to the dollar, up from 55.95 on Tuesday.
The currency opened at 55.88, an intraday high, and hit a low of 56.015. Trading turnover reached $881.9 million.
The South Korean won led losses in Asian currencies on Wednesday as caution set in ahead of a US Federal Reserve policy decision due later in the day.
The much-watched US inflation report showed prices barely rose in May, bolstering chances of the Fed keeping its interest rates unchanged. Markets now see an around 92 percent chance of a pause in June, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was flat to low, after falling to a more than three-week low overnight.
“The main factor driving Asian currencies is the movement in the US dollar after the CPI data turned out to follow what the market expectation was,” said Poon Panichpibool, a markets strategist at Krung Thai Bank.
Equity markets in the region remained mixed, with stocks in Indonesia and South Korea falling 0.5 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
Most actively traded JG Summit Holdings Inc. was up P0.50 to P47.50. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. was down P0.25 to P51.15. Ayala Land Inc. was down P1 to P24. SM Investments Corp. was down P16 to P910. BDO Unibank Inc. was up P0.90 to P140.50. Universal Robina Corp. was steady at P141. Ayala Corp. was down P23 to PP653. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down P0.30 to P32.50. Bloomberry Resorts Corp. was down P0.58 to P9.56. Globe Telecom Inc. was down P79 to P1,755.
