Philippine shares closed little changed in cautious trade Monday ahead of key monetary policy decisions by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the US Federal Reserve this week.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 1.35 points or 0.02 percent, settling at 6,615.16 points, while the broader All Shares index dipped 0.22 points or 0.01 percent to 3,752.51 points.
Japhet Tantiangco, analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., attributed the market’s lackluster trade to investors’ wait-and-see stance.
“On a positive note, (some) last-minute bargain hunting trimmed the day’s losses,” Tantiangco said.
The peso’s weakening against the US dollar also weighed on sentiment, he added.
The local currency closed at 58.671 to the dollar, dipping in value from 58.47 on Friday.
It opened weak at 58.6, before hitting a low of 58.74 and a high of 58.6. Trading volume amounted to $1.48 billion.
Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital Corp. said investors were monitoring the BSP’s interest rate decision, expecting to hear a 25-basis-point rate cut.
The global focus is on the Fed’s policy move, which the market anticipates to lean toward a rate cut, he added.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the stock market finished flat against a backdrop of a reported slower growth in overseas Filipino remittances, while the government’s latest treasury auction resulted in a slight increase for the 11th straight week.
Among the market sectors, financials led gainers, rising 0.87 percent, while the mining and oil index showed the largest loss of 1.01 percent.
Total value turnover reached P4.64 billion.
Market breadth was negative, with 100 decliners outnumbering 87 advancers, while 66 stocks remained unchanged.
