Regional tension in the South China Sea (locally referred to as the West Philippine Sea) weighed down the stock market on Wednesday, with the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) losing for six straight days.
The PSEi closed in the red territory, declining by 0.04 percent or 2.77 points to 6,366.03.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), said the local stock market's performance has been at its new six-month lows since Dec. 13, 2023, while the US dollar-peso exchange rate hovered among 19.5-month highs, lately at 58.755.
Ricafort added that the global crude oil prices that reached a new 1.5-month high, the renewed tensions between China and the Philippines in disputed waters, the local political noise, and the fewer rate cuts outlook also contributed to investors' sentiments.
All Shares also declined by 0.06 percent or 2.08 points to 3,438.46. Despite the local index closing in the red, most counters ended in the green territory.
The biggest gains came from the Services sector, up by 0.94 percent to 1,958.93; Holding Firms, up by 0.31 percent to 5,598.33; mining and Oil, up by 0.24 percent to 8,749.06; and Financials, up by 0.11 to 1,934.86.
Losers were Industrial and Property, shares of which dropped by 0.89 and 0.77 points, respectively.
There were more gainers than losers on this day's trading at 99 to 85, with 48 counters remaining unchanged.
Meanwhile, the peso depreciated on Wednesday to 58.76 in the US dollar, shedding 0.14 from Tuesday's 58.62 finish.
It opened the day at 58.62 before trading between 58.58 and 58.77, bringing Wednesday's average level to 58.66 to a dollar.
The trade volume increased to $930 million from Tuesday's volume of $858.53 million.