PH markets mixed after Holy Week break

Philippine financial markets were mixed on Monday, as investors weighed developments over the long weekend, as trading was suspended on Thursday and Friday for the Holy Week holidays.

The local stock barometer PSEi lost 50.35 points or 0.84% to hit 5,948.35 at the closing bell. The broader All Shares index declined by 16.61 points or 0.50% to 3,336.99.

Nearly all sectoral indices closed on the red, except for property which posted slight gains as it ended the session up by 0.36 points or 0.02%.

“The PSEi opened the week lower as developments in the Middle East conflict continued to weigh on market sentiment,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said in a mobile message.

“Market jitters intensified after Donald Trump set a deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, adding to global uncertainty. Oil prices remained elevated due to continued supply disruptions tied to the prolonged conflict,” he added.

US President Donald Trump over the weekend threatened to target Iran’s power plants and bridges if the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping corridor that carries around a fifth of the world’s oil, is not reopened by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, eastern time.

Trump last week said the United States would carry out strikes on Iran over the next two to three weeks, with its main strategic objectives in the war nearing completion, and American troops could be leaving “very soon.”

The Philippine peso, meanwhile, gained 5 centavos to close at P60.05:$1 from last Wednesday’s finish of P60.1:$1.

“The US dollar/peso exchange rate again corrected lower for the second straight trading day after the long Holy Week holiday weekend when there was accumulated seasonal increase in OFW remittances and conversion to pesos to finance holiday-related spending around the country,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said separately.

There was no trading on Thursday, April 2, and Friday, April 3, which were earlier declared regular holidays in commemoration of the Holy Week. — BM, GMA News