Peso slides, stocks fall as Trump rejects Middle East peace deal

Philippine financial markets opened the week on a weak note, dragged down by rising global crude oil prices as the conflict in the Middle East remains unresolved after US President Donald Trump rejected a peace deal.

The local currency shed 8 centavos to close at P62.545:$1 versus last Friday’s finish of P62.465:$1.

Global crude prices climbed to near two-week highs on Monday, with Brent up to $107 per barrel, as Iran said it will not soften its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz after Trump rejected the peace deal.

“The US President has made some good remarks as well as many contradictory ones, which unfortunately we hear from him frequently. Only a negotiated solution can resolve the impasse over the global energy bottleneck,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said in a mobile message.

The stock market also closed in the red with the main Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) down 37.1 points or 0.64% to 5,788.87, and the broader All Shares index down by 23.49 points or 0.72% to 3,222.72.

According to Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan, Trump’s rejection of the peace deal soured market sentiment.

“The development renewed concerns over the prolonged disruption of oil supplies and the potential for crude prices to remain elevated. Investors consequently remained cautious, keeping the local market under selling pressure,” he said in a separate mobile message.

Nearly all sectoral indices closed lower—financials by 0.92%, industrial by 1.61%, holding firms by 0.98%, services by 0.14%, and mining and oil by 3.25%. The property index was the sole gainer, up 0.06%.

More than 1.338 billion shares, valued at P5.190 billion, changed hands. Decliners led advancers, 128 to 51, while 66 issues were unchanged. — BM, GMA News

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