Peso falls on coup reports; opens at P51.85:$1

The Philippine peso weakened Friday following reports of an attempt to unseat President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The local currency opened at 51.85 against the US dollar, which is 19 centavos lower than Thursday’s closing rate of 51.66. Traders have placed the greenback at P51.82 to P51.88 as of mid-morning. The volume reached $87.5 million with a weighted average of P51.855. As of 10:20 a.m., all Philippine market indicators plunged. Phisix was down to 26.96 points or 1.2891 percent at 2,064.36. All Shares dipped to 14.93 points or 1.1604 percent at 1,271.68. Financials dropped to 4.94 points or 0.7608 percent at 644.39. Industrials plunged to 42.65 points or 1.4086 percent at 2,985.14. Holding firms was down to 16.61 points or 1.6424 percent at 994.69. Property dipped to 25.64 points or 2.8782 percent at 865.19. Services dropped to 5.64 points or 0.5587 percent at 1,003.82. Mining and oil plunged to 79.06 points or 2.6554 percent at 2,898.23.-GMANews.TV