Share prices ended lower Monday on profit- taking.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was down 40.88 points to 7,252.64, a 0.56 percent drop.
The broader all shares index was down 21.89 points to 3,847.51, a 0.57 percent drop.
Losers edged gainers 127 to 62 with 48 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P6.05 billion.
The peso closed at 51.29 to the dollar, up from 51.37 on Friday. It opened at 51.30, hitting a high of 51.25 and a low of 51.35. Trading turnover reached $827.5 million.
Reuters reported that risk appetite waned on fears that the US Federal Reserve could adopt a more aggressive stance on policy tightening at its January meeting later this week.
Markets in Asia traded cautiously on Monday ahead of the Fed’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, where some analysts have started to speculate that it is possible, though unlikely, that it will raise interest rates for the first time since the pandemic began.
Asian currencies were largely mixed. Indonesia’s rupiah and the Malaysian ringgit inched higher, while the Thai baht and Philippine peso dropped.
“The risk-off in equities, on Fed and Russia-Ukraine concerns, does not appear to be translating to significant bouts of aversion in Asian FX at this point,” analysts at Maybank said in a note.
Philstocks Financial Inc. said investors took a cautious stance ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week.
“Worries over a possible aggressive monetary tightening by the Fed remain weighing on the local bourse,” it said.
“Sentiments were also dampened by the country’s COVID-19 situation as cases outside the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon continue to increase,” Colfinancial.com also said.
Most actively traded Solar Power Nueva Ecija Corp. was up P0.23 to P1.96. Figaro Coffee Group Inc. was up P0.02 to P0.77. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was up P1.10 to P201. Monde Nissin Corp. was up P0.14 to P16.64. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down P0.30 to P34.40. Converge ICT Holdings Inc. was down P0.40 to P30.60. Globe Telecom Inc. was down P58 to P3,260. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.45 to P35.10.
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was down P0.30 to P57. AC Energy Corp. was down P0.06 to P9.59. – Ruelle Castro
