Local stocks plummeted to a one-year low Tuesday amid growing concerns over policy decisions by major central banks later this week.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 76.60 points, or 1.25 percent, to close at 6,046.97, while the broader all-shares index dropped 34.94 points, or 1.06 percent, to settle at 3,264.30.
China Bank Capital managing director Juan Paolo Colet said investors were worried that rising oil prices and other inflationary pressures would force the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep its policy rates at elevated level for a longer period of time.
“Both central banks [BSP and US Federal Reserve] are widely expected to hold rates steady during their meetings this week, but growing uncertainty about the path of interest rates over the next several months has soured investor sentiment on the local equities,” Colet said.
Meanwhile, the peso slightly recovered to 56.76 against the US dollar Tuesday from 56.87 Monday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.