Peso, PSEi sink on weak GDP growth

Philippine financial markets ended Monday lower, with the benchmark stock index declining and the peso weakening as investors digested slower-than-expected economic growth data.

The Philippine peso shed 25.5 centavos to close at P63.31:$1 from last Friday’s finish of P63.055:$1 to mark the third straight day of depreciation.

“The US dollar/peso exchange rate corrected higher… after softer-than-expected local GDP growth at 2.1%,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said in a mobile message.

Economic growth stood at 2.1% in the third quarter of the year, the weakest since the 3.8% contraction in the first quarter of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ricafort expects the peso to trade between P63.20:$1 to P62.45:$1 on Tuesday, November 10, with the next support set at P62.75-P63.00.

Declines were also seen in local equities, with the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) down 84.03 points or 1.46% to 5,677.92. The broader All Shares index shed 34.79 points or 1.08% to 3,183.52.

More than 822.337 million shares, valued at P5.978 billion, changed hands. Decliners led advancers, 100 to 74, while 69 issues were unchanged. –NB, GMA News