THE peso strengthened against the dollar on Friday, closing at P59.09 to the dollar, but the stock market ended the week down 65.34 points, or 1.02 percent, to 6,333.26.
The currency, which gained 7 centavos from a day earlier, opened at P59.03:$12 and traded in the P58.97 to P59.1 range. Volume fell to P1.16 billion from P1.37 billion on Thursday.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the peso rose on comments by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that he did not want it to fall to P60:$1, among other factors.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index, meanwhile, was said to have fallen with investors taking a cautious stance ahead of the release of 2025 economic growth data next week.
Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at Philstocks Financial Inc., said the pullback reflected continued profit-taking following a strong rally since late December.
Friday’s drop was said to have mostly erased the previous day’s gains of 68.50 points or 1.1 percent.
Foreign investors were net sellers, with net outflows amounting to P574.16 million.
Tantiangco described trading as “anemic,” with net value turnover at P5.17 billion, below the year-to-date average of P6.04 billion.
“Among the sectors, only the miners closed with gains, up 2.76 percent. The rest fell, with the banks incurring the most losses, down 1.16 percent,” Tantiangco said.
Losers outnumbered gainers, 119 to 86, on a company basis.
JG Summit Holdings Inc. was the day’s index leader, climbing 2.97 percent to P27.75, while ACEN Corp. was the main index laggard, falling 3.62 percent to P2.93.
For the week, the PSEi declined by 131.41 points, or 2 percent, snapping a four-week winning streak.