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The Philippine peso weakened against the US dollar
and the stock market closed lower a day ahead of the political
protest related to the Senate hearing on the aborted $330-million
broadband deal.
All Asian stock markets and
currencies went up Thursday, leading some analysts to blame local
political issues for the decline in the peso and Philippine stocks.
The peso closed at P41 flat
against the greenback Thursday, lower than Wednesday’s P40.95
finish. At the Philippine Dealing System, the peso opened at P40.91
to a US dollar, reached a high of P41.01 and a low of P40.89.
Average trading for the day settled at P40.954.
Total volume traded amounted to
$581.5 million against Wednesday’s $830.70 million.
“Peso will stay in a tight
range [from] 40.80 to 41.15 underpinned by offshore bids and thin
market,” said Marcelo Ayes, Rizal Commercial Bank Corp. (RCBC)
vice-president.
Ayes added that the weaker peso
cannot be blamed on the political noise brought about by Rodolfo
“Jun” Lozada Jr.’s exposé in the Senate that linked President
Gloria Arroyo’s husband and some government officials in the
controversial broadband deal awarded to ZTE Corp. of China. It was
later scrapped by the President.
“For now, investors have
discounted this political noise,” Ayes said.
Opposition groups are calling for
a massive rally in Makati City’s financial district today to
demand the ouster of Mrs. Arroyo over new allegations of corruption.
But the Metropolitan Bank and
Trust Co. disagrees. In its website, Metrobank said the peso was
already affected by the political noise about the Arroyo
government.
“Risk aversion and political
uncertainty will support the US dollar,” Metrobank said.
Stocks also close lower
Philippine share prices closed
0.4 percent lower on Thursday with the President facing
renewed calls to step down over a corruption scandal, dealers said.
They added that foreign investors
trimmed their exposure ahead of the anti-Arroyo rally.
“There’s political noise that
makes the market cautious,” said Nestor Aguila of DA Market
Securities. “Investors cannot afford to be complacent because of
the shaky political situation in the country.”
“While investors at first
brushed aside the noise, they are now getting nervous because more
groups are calling for President Arroyo to step down,” said Jose
Vistan of AB Capital Securities.
The composite index fell 11.75
points to 3,211.60 points between 3,206.15 and 3,245.62.
Volume amounted to 2.1 billion
shares valued at P3.3 billion ($80.61 million). There were 61
decliners and 30 advancers, and 57 were steady.
The all-share index fell 7.98
point or 0.4 percent to 1,955.04.
Philippine Long Distance
Telephone Co., the country’s telecom giant, gained P30 at 2,990.
Ayala Corp. rose P7.50 to P455 per share, while Ayala Land Inc.
tumbled one to P12.50. Food and drinks giant San Miguel Corp.’s
A-shares, reserved for Filipinos, were steady at P52. Its B-shares,
which have no ownership restriction, fell P0.50 to P52.
--Chino S. Leyco and AFP
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