NextGen Day

Prior to the release of many significant economic data releases both locally and in the US, the main index of the local stock exchange opened the week in the red, while the peso ended the day flat versus the US dollar.

To reach 6,595.03 points, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 7.14 points, or 0.11 percent.

All Shares came next, down 2.65 points, or 0.08 percent, to 3,514.07 points.

Two of the six sectoral measures, with Services falling 1.02 percent and Financials falling 0.15 percent, tracked the overall index.

Holding Companies increased by 0.23 percent, Industrial increased by 0.11 percent, and Mining and Oil increased by 0.35 percent.

The Property index increased by 0.01 percent before nearly remaining flat.

390.14 million shares, or PHP3.63 billion, were traded.

At 87 to 82, decliners outnumbered advancers while 46 shares remained the same.

According to Luis Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC), “Philippine shares began the week quietly as investors start to brace themselves for the quarter end window dressing this Friday.”

He claimed that various lectures by Federal Reserve officials and the US’s core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) for March 2023 will be among the factors influencing trading this week.

On the local front, the national budget report for February 2023 and bank lending performance are expected to be made public this week by the government.

Oil prices decreased along with falling European banking stocks and after US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm indicated that it may take several years to restock the nation’s strategic petroleum reserves, which dimmed demand expectations, Limlingan added.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures saw a 1.1 percent fall to USD69.22 per barrel while Brent crude oil futures saw a 1.3 percent decline to USD74.96 per barrel.

At 54.29 vs 54.35 last Friday, the local currency concluded the first trading day of the week with no change.

It traded between 54.55 and 54.26 throughout the day after opening at 54.33. For the day, the average level was 54.439.

Volume increased from the previous session’s USD1.04 billion to USD1.08 billion.

According to Michael Ricafort, chief economist of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), the peso ended the day at 53.68, its highest closing price since last February 3.

The Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), of which Ricafort is a member, is expected to likely suspend rates on its next policy meeting in May, according to a statement by Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, which Ricafort said contributed to the strengthening of the local currency.

After monetary authorities highlighted projections for a still-high inflation rate for the majority of this year, the BSP’s key rates were increased by 25 basis points last week, bringing the total increase in the central bank’s policy rates since May 2022 to 425 basis points.

According to Ricafort, the announcement that the Philippines government may issue a $3 billion global bond with euro as the denominator next month and the decline in oil prices also helped the peso.

According to him, the local currency has lost about 2.6 percent of its value versus the US dollar since the year began, but it is still one of the best-performing currencies in the region so far.

The anticipated trading range for the currency pair on Tuesday is 54.20 to 54.40.

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