MANILA – Local shares declined on Wednesday ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) Monetary Board meeting, while the peso closed slightly higher against the dollar.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 49.73 points to close at 6,558.63, while All Shares also went down by 12.49 points to 3,499.42.
"The local bourse slid by -0.75% to finish at 6,558.63 as investors await the BSP's interest rate decision schedule for tomorrow," Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
"Analysts anticipate the BSP will maintain current policy rates due to stable inflation," he added.
Almost all sectors declined, except for Industrial which rose by 73.68 points.
Decliners led advancers at 109 to 80, while 48 shares were unchanged.
The peso, meanwhile, closed slightly higher at 57.505 from 57.84 on Tuesday.
It opened the day at 57.71 and traded between 57.505 to 57.74.
The weighted average for the day stood at 57.634.
Total volume of trade went up to USD1.2 billion from USD1.1 billion on Tuesday.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said that for Thursday, the peso exchange rate could range at the 57.40 to 57.60 levels. (PNA)
