Peso slumps again, share index loses ground

September 25, 2018

The Philippine peso fell to its lowest point of the day of P54.35:$1 against the US dollar on Tuesday before rallying to end at P54.31, down by eight centavos from the previous session. The peso's decline, now at nearly 13-year lows, comes two days before the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' policy-setting body meets to decide whether to raise policy rates. Policy rates have been raised by a total of one percentage point in recent months as the central bank battles soaring inflation and a weakening exchange rate. Volume at the Bankers Association of the Philippines reached $668.35 million from Monday's $670.6 million. The Philippine Stock Exchange index ended 101.44 points lower to 7,332.17. In the broader market, there were 99 decliners, 81 gainers and 55 shares unchanged. Volume amounted to 812.44 million shares worth P3.5 billion from Monday's 1,31 billion shares valued at P4.57 billion. Most active shares were led by Ayala Land, down 2.57 percent to P39.85 and SM Prime, down 3.51 percent to P35.70. DMS