Peso recovers, PSEI down on weaker Q2 GDP

MANILA — The Philippine peso recovered against the US dollar Thursday but the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEI) weakened after a lowerthan-expected growth of the domestic economy in the second quarter this year.

The local currency ended the day at 52.04 to the greenback from its 52.32 close a day ago.

BPI Research said the peso managed to regain its strength despite the slower domestic growth, as measured by gross domestic product (GPD), from April to June this year at 5.5 percent from quarter-ago’s 5.6 percent. Analysts projected growth to be around 5.9 percent.

However, the peso moved in line with its peers in the region and surpassed concerns on the domestic economy.

It opened the day at 52.28, a decline from its 52.05 start in the previous day.

It traded between 52.04 and 52.395, resulting in an average of 52.23.

Volume reached USD1.45 billion, lower than the previous trading day’s USD1.72 billion.

The currency pair is seen to trade between 51.90 and 52.10 Friday.

On the other hand, the main stocks index slipped by 0.04 percent, or 3.23 points, to 7,914.16 points.

BPI Research said “market players digested the latest GDP figures which missed expectations.”

The negative close of the main index was mirrored by most of the other counters, with the All Shares down by 0.19 percent, or 9.09 points, to 4,818.32 points.

Holding Firms posted the highest drop among the sectors at 0.47 percent and was followed by Property, 0.45 percent; Financials, 0.42 percent; and Industrial, 0.28 percent.

On the other hand, Services rose by 3.06 percent and Mining and Oil by 1.50 percent.

Volume totaled to 834.3 million shares amounting to PHP6.25 billion.

Gainers led losers at 103 to 91 while 45 shares were unchanged./pna