Philippine stocks fall, peso weakens over tariff concerns

Investor sentiment in the Philippines remains cautious due to concerns over higher tariffs' impact on exports, leading to a further decline in the local stock market and continued depreciation of the peso Thursday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 1.04 percent to 6,252.73 points, while the All Shares index fell by 1.05 percent to 3,736.91 points.

All sectoral indices ended in the red, with Mining and Oil leading declines at 3.01 percent, followed by Holding Firms, Financials, Industrial, Services, and Property.

Volume reached PHP7.85 billion, with decliners outnumbering advancers at 134 to 61.

Analysts attribute the market's performance to investors waiting for further developments regarding the upcoming tariff deadline on August 1st, as well as the impact of companies releasing earnings reports over the next few weeks.

The local currency weakened to its almost six-month low of 58.32 against the US dollar, down from Wednesday’s close of 57.58.

Volume in foreign exchange markets surged to USD2.6 billion from Tuesday's USD1.86 billion.