Stocks, peso plunge on rising crude prices

reductions may be on the way.”

PSEi August 4, 2023

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By Jenniffer B. Austria and Julito G. Rada

LOCAL stocks and the peso plummeted Friday amid massive sell-off as investors worry over escalating global crude prices despite the softening local inflation.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 125.92 points, or 1.91 percent, to close at 6,450.84, while the broader allshares index went down by 51.88 percent to settle at 3,447.61.

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China Bank Capital managing director Juan Paolo Colet said even as the July inflation rate eased to 16-month low at 4.7 percent from 5.4 percent in June, investors were worried that upward pressures were building up especially for socially-sensitive commodities like rice and oil.

Philstocks Financial Inc. research analyst Claire Alviar said there were also concerns over increased US bond yields after a credit downgrade.

“The selling pressure was strong this time as the net market value turnover was recorded at P6.52 billion, higher than this year’s average of P5.11 billion,” Alviar said.

The peso aso retreated to its lowest in more than one month, pulled down by higher global oil prices, weaker local stock market and the expected tail-end of the seasonal increase in remittances from overseas Filipino workers. The local currency lost P0.22 to close at 55.74 against the greenback Friday from 55.52 Thursday. It was its weakest level since settling at 55.77 on June 23, 2023. Michael Ricafort, chief economist of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the dollar’s strength was noted “after global crude oil prices lingered at among 3.5-month highs recently, after Saudi Arabia extended its unilateral production cut of 1 million barrels per day by another month and hinted that deeper