Stocks, peso fall on hawkish signal from Fed 

Hawkish signals from Federal Reserve officials resulted in the negative close of all the counters in the local bourse and the peso on Tuesday, according to a report by Philippine News Agency.

After starting the week up, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 1.25 percent, or 82.49 points, to 6,510.67 points.

All Shares followed with a drop of 1.01 percent, or 35.36 points, to 3,475.05 points.

Mining and Oil registered the biggest decline among the sectoral counters after it fell by 2.02 percent.

It was trailed by Industrial, 1.56 percent; Financials, 1.33 percent; Services, 1.29 percent; Holding Firms, 1.05 percent; and Property, 0.91 percent.

Volume reached 1.11 billion shares amounting to PHP4.46 billion.

Decliners led advancers at 127 to 42 while 43 shares were unchanged.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the main index’s performance partly to the hawkish signal from Fed officials, with markets pricing in a likely rate hike in July, uptick in US Treasury yields, and the weaker peso trading during the day.

To date, the PSEi has declined by 0.8 percent, Ricafort said, noting the next important support level is at 6,510.

Meanwhile, the peso slipped to 56.31 to a greenback from its 56.12 close on Monday.

The local currency opened the day at 56.07, weaker than its previous start of 55.85.

It traded between 56.44 and 56.05, resulting in an average of 56.26.

Volume reached USD1.39 billion, up from the previous day’s USD1.11 billion.

Ricafort said the peso’s close is in line with its counterparts in the region due largely to expectations for a Fed rate hike either in June or July and higher US Treasury yields, which dampen the attractiveness of other currencies.

He forecasts the peso to trade between 56.20 and 56.40 to a US dollar on Wednesday.