THE peso has sunk to a new all-time low for the second day in a row, closing at P61.721 against the dollar on Friday, weighing down sentiment at the equities market.
The Friday figures also reflected an 8.1-centavo loss from the previous historic low of P61.64:$1 recorded during the previous session.
The peso-dollar rate opened at P61.63:$1 and ranged from P61.57:$1 to P61.73:$1, with trading volume reaching P1.19906 billion, lower than the P1.578 billion recorded in the previous session.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso weakened against the dollar due to softer overseas Filipino remittances. He also cited Trump’s recent rejection of a peace deal proposal from Iran and the dollar strengthing against major global currencies.
A foreign exchange trader also said the peso reached a new record low after the release of US consumer and producer inflation reports this week, which supported views that the US Federal Reserve may need to hold its policy rates for a longer period.
The weakening peso was also a factor in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ending the week lower, falling 0.64 percent or 38.75 points to close at 5,976.77.
Analysts said investors also booked profits from previous gains.
Trading activity remained tepid, with net value turnover at P5.50 billion, while foreign investors were largely sellers with net outflows of P195.41 million.
Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at Philstocks Financial Inc., said the market was unable to hold gains above 6,000 as investors took profits from the previous session’s rally, while broader concerns including peso depreciation, stagflation risks, and local political issues weighed on sentiment.
For his part, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said the PSEi ended lower as the continued depreciation of the peso against the US dollar dampened market sentiment, triggering profit-taking after recent gains.
Sectoral performance was mixed, with services leading gains, up 1.59 percent, while mining and oil posted the steepest decline at 2.52 percent.
Market breadth was negative, with 103 decliners against 77 advancers, while 66 issues were unchanged.
Among index stocks, DigiPlus Interactive Corp. led gainers, surging 11.58 percent to P12.72, while Bank of the Philippine Islands was the biggest laggard, dropping 4.69 percent to P90.35.
