Philippine stocks, peso down on COVID-19 concerns

Philippine stocks closed lower on Friday, July 9, due to concerns over rising COVID-19 cases in other countries.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 1.30 percent or 90.07 points to end at 6,834.92 points, with all counters following the main index's decline.

Investors were particularly concerned about Japan's announcement of another state of emergency in Tokyo until August 22, which could stall global economic recovery.

The peso also weakened against the US dollar, ending the week at 50.08 from 49.875 on Thursday.

Volume reached PHP8.42 billion with losers outnumbering gainers by 153 to 59 shares.