SEN. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd’s first official words after Congress proclaimed him the Philippines’ 15th President failed to inspire the peso, as the local currency moved sideways against the US dollar Wednesday.

“At this point [Aquino] should already lay out his game plan. The market is looking for the blue print, but he said nothing new. He should have said: This is how I will execute my plan and the market would have rallied with him,” Marcelo Ayes, RCBC senior vice president, said.

He said the peso is still looking for direction.

At the Philippine Dealing System, the local currency gained five centavos to close at 46.58 to the dollar from 46.63 the previous day.

The exchange rate opened at 46.66 and stayed at this level the whole trading day, with support at the 46.52 level. Total trading volume reached $986.03 million, slightly up from Tuesday’s $983.01 million.

The local unit expects to resist the 47.1 level and get major support at 46.50 within the week, traders said.

At the Philippine Stock Exchange, the local composite index fell 0.59 percent, or 19.43 points to 3,254.83, while the broader all-shares index shed 0.35 percent, or 7.46 points to 2,078.56.

Losers beat gainers, 54 to 35, while 77 stocks were unchanged. A total of 1.59 billion stocks worth P3.2 billion changed hands.

“Initially, the market was up inspired by the overnight movement of the Dow, but later on it succumbed to pressure to sellers,” said Jun Calaycay of Accord Capital.

“While the local economic backdrop is positive, problems over in the US and in Europe have held back the market from establishing further highs. With external problems persisting, there was profit-taking today,” said Prince Anthony Yeung of AB Capital.

The analyst said the main index was also dragged by the 1.45-percent drop in the share price of Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Co.

The Dow Jones industrial average rebounded from a seven-month low to close at 9,939.98, gaining 1.26 percent, or 123.49 points following the optimistic remarks of US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the recovery of the US economy.

Calaycay said the market has already discounted Wednesday’s proclamation of Aquino as the Philippines’ next President.

“Much of the positive sentiments of the election have already been absorbed by the market,” he added.

Yeung said support level is set at 3,130 with resistance at the 3,330 level.

“With the local economy performing well and the outlook for the rest of the year positive, further corrections in share prices can be taken as an opportunity to accumulate stocks,” he said.

With report by Krista Angela M. Montealegre

---

Print

Tell friend

Top

---