MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) experienced a slight uptick on Wednesday, drawing positive momentum from the United States stock market performances, while the Philippine peso continued its depreciation against the US dollar.
According to Philippines News Agency, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar, the PSEi's growth by 0.12 percent to close at 6,856.77 was influenced by the overnight advances in US markets, largely driven by a decrease in US treasury yields. Additionally, investor sentiment was impacted by anticipation surrounding the Federal Reserve's forthcoming decisions on interest rates and its policy direction for the upcoming year.
The market's sectoral performance was varied, with the Services sector witnessing a 1.22 percent increase, leading the gains. Conversely, the Property sector saw the most significant drop, decreasing by 0.64 percent. The day concluded with 101 advancing stocks versus 92 decliners, with 43 remaining unchanged.
Parallel to these developments in the stock market, the Philippine peso experienced a downturn, weakening to the 56 level against the US dollar. The local currency concluded the trading day at 56.13, down from 55.92 the previous day. The peso opened at 55.87, compared to 55.68 at the previous session's start, fluctuating between 55.87 and 56.16 throughout the day to average at 56.03 against the dollar. Notably, the trading volume escalated to USD1.54 billion, up from USD1.31 billion on Tuesday.