Shares retreat on peso, inflation woes

October 29, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market retreated yesterday due to expectations that the worst is yet to be over for the peso’s decline, triggering economic, inflationary and monetary concerns.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) yesterday declined by 1.87 percent, or 107.64 points, to hit 5,653.55, cutting the prior day’s gain.

The broader All Shares index also went down by 0.97 percent, or 31.27 points, to 3,182.69.

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said investors have cashed out of the gains made in the previous session.

Limlingan underscored that investors would stay defensive as long as the peso is falling to fresh lows.

“The local bourse retreated in today’s session as investors resorted to profit-taking following (the prior day’s) gains. Market participants remained cautious, maintaining short positions amidst the continued sharp weakness in the local currency,” he said.

Limlingan added that buying interest would be limited, as the peso’s sustained weakness means the PSEi is under pressure from other indicators like interest rates.

“Persistent concerns over the peso’s depreciation weighed on investor sentiment, limiting buying interest and keeping the market under pressure,” Limlingan said.

Total turnover value stood at P7.89 billion.

Except for mining and oil, which gained by 0.41 percent, the other sectoral gauges were down led by services with a 2.95-percent drop and financial with a 2.07 percent decline.

Decliners edged out advancers, 105 to 70, while 68 issues were unchanged.

ICTSI was the session’s most actively traded stock, slipping by 3.53 percent to P820 per share, followed by BDO Unibank, which slipped by 0.76 percent to P117.10 and newly-listed GCash, which gained by 1.36 percent to P6.72.