Philippine stocks fell, but the peso appreciated against the US dollar Friday after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) halted its monetary easing cycle a day earlier.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed at 6,061.33, down 51.86 percent or 0.85 percent, while the all-shares index lost 18.45 points, or 0.51 percent, to settle at 3,629.28.
“Philippine shares retreated back below the 6,100 level as investors booked profits after two consecutive sessions of gains following BSP’s decision to maintain interest rates,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
“The market faced selling pressure as traders reassessed their positions amid a stable policy outlook,” he said.
The peso closed at 57.83 against the US dollar Friday, up from 58.06 Thursday as currency traders weighed the latest action by the BSP.
Bank of the Philippine Islands lead economist Emilio S. Neri said while the bank expected a cut on Thursday, the BSP’s decision was still in line with its outlook for 2025.
“As we noted previously, we see limited room for monetary easing this year. A narrowing interest rate differential could lead to capital outflows, while the country’s current account deficit heightens the vulnerability to external shocks,” Neri said.
“Keeping interest rates steady might be needed to mitigate these risks. We still expect the policy rate to end the year at 5.25 percent,” he said.
Among the sectoral indices, only the mining and oil ended in the green, rising 1.5 percent. Property index declined the most by 1.69 percent, followed by services which lost 1.14 percent.
Value turnover amounted to P5.25 billion, with 82 gainers, 81 decliners and 69 unchanged issues.
Ayala Land Inc. went down 3.73 percent to P23.25, China Banking Corp rose 1.64 percent to P86.80.
