THE peso closed at its weakest in over a month on Friday, falling for a seventh straight day, and the stock market also ended down on concerns about the impact of the war on Iran.
The currency slipped by 37 centavos to P59 against the dollar, its lowest close since Jan. 27’s P59.085.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Market index, meanwhile, shed 60.12 points, or 0.94 percent, to 6.320.41. The broader All Shares also fell, by 31 points or 0.88 percent, and ended the trading week at 3,494.99.
The peso opened at P58.68:$1 and traded from P58.65 to P59. Volume rose to P1.85 billion from Thursday’s P1.57 billion.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the currency weakened after Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. talked about a policy rate hike to manage inflation if global crude oil prices breached $100 per barrel.
Philstocks Financial Inc. research manager Japhet Tantiango also said that inflation worries had weighed on the stock market.
Luis Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said the peso’s fall added pressure on equities and risk-off sentiment persisted as investors remained cautious amid geopolitical uncertainty.
Trading was tepid, with net value turnover at P6.13 billion, below the year-to-date average of P6.55 billion. Foreign investors were net sellers, posting outflows of P229.74 million.
Of the subindices, only property finished higher, up 0.28 percent, while mining and oil led decliners with a 2.21-percent drop.
On a listed company basis, 116 fell, 69 advanced and 62 were unchanged.
