Share prices closed mixed on Wednesday amid a lack of strong news and investors looking to Thursday’s release of the November inflation. The peso closed up.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index was down 4.25 points to 6,729.96, a 0.06 percent drop.
The broader All Shares index was up 0.71 points or 0.02 percent to 3,792.48.
Gainers edged losers 103 to 89 with 42 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P7.96 billion.
The peso closed at 58.23 to the dollar, up from 58.58 on Tuesday. The currency opened at 58.485, hitting a high of 58.23 and a low of 58.50. Trading turnover reached $1.72 billion.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said investors are still looking for a moving news to trade the market, particularly November’s inflation numbers.
“Several are estimating that the latest inflationary data will be slightly above October’s 2.3 percent but well within the administration’s acceptable range,” he said.
Asian markets broadly rose on Wednesday, with South Korean shares bucking the trend and the won stabilizing after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief martial law declaration late on Tuesday rattled investor confidence.
The won extended gains to add 1 percent by 0709 GMT, bolstered by suspected central bank intervention and the finance ministry’s pledge of “unlimited” liquidity support to markets.
The surprise declaration pushed the local currency to a two-year low against the US dollar overnight, dropping as much as 2 percent at one point — its steepest single-day decline since early November 2016, making the local unit the worst-performing currency so far this year, down nearly 9 percent.
Fears of US tariffs and an unexpected interest rate cut by the Bank of Korea coincided with a 14-month export slump in the country, reflecting growing concerns about trade tensions and weakened US demand, all taking the shine off South Korea’s assets.
“We believe outflow pressures will increase and pose an upside risk to USD/KRW, especially as positioning had lightened up recently. Once the dust settles, the policymakers will likely want to step up fiscal, in our view,” analysts at Citi said in a note.
Meanwhile, the US dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major counterparts, reversed early gains to inch down 0.1 percent, with traders weighing the chances of a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut this month.
The Indian rupee was largely steady after hitting an all-time low on Tuesday. The rupee hit consecutive record lows, pressured by decelerating economic growth, ongoing foreign investment outflows and the weakening of regional currencies, particularly the Chinese yuan. While the yuan added 0.3 percent, it faces mounting depreciation pressure due to US tariff threats and the widening monetary policy gap between the two countries.
