Peso Gains Ground as Stock Market Retreats
The Philippine peso showed resilience against the US dollar on Monday, November 10, 2025, climbing to the 58-level despite concerns over the country's economic performance. Meanwhile, the local stock market experienced significant declines as investor confidence wavered following the release of weaker-than-expected third-quarter growth figures.
Market Performance in Detail
The peso opened the trading session at 58.98 against the greenback, moving between 58.79 and 59.07 throughout the day. The local currency ultimately settled at 58.96, showing improvement from Friday's closing rate of 59.04. The day's average exchange rate stood at 58.93, with trading volume increasing substantially to US$1.38 billion from the previous session's $1.21 billion.
On the trading floor, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) faced substantial pressure, dropping by 0.99 percent to 5,702.64 points. The broader All Shares index followed this downward trend, declining by 0.46 percent to close at 3,498.43 points.
Sector Performance and Economic Context
Market sectors showed varied performance, with only the Mining and Oil index posting gains, surging by an impressive 7.19 percent. In contrast, the services sector suffered the most significant decline among sectoral gauges, falling by 1.36 percent. Other declining sectors included:
- Financials: down 1.34 percent
- Property: down 0.78 percent
- Holding Firms: down 0.48 percent
- Industrial: down 0.32 percent
Trading volume reached 1.86 billion shares valued at P6.96 billion, with market breadth showing 100 declining issues against 85 advances, while 56 shares remained unchanged.
Luis Limlingan, Head of Sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., attributed the market's performance to investor caution following the release of third-quarter GDP data. "The Philippine market ended lower despite cheaper valuations following the release of the GDP figures," Limlingan noted.
The economic growth, measured by gross domestic product (GDP), expanded by four percent in the third quarter of 2025, significantly lower than the 5.2 percent growth recorded in the same period last year and the 5.5 percent growth in the previous quarter. This slowdown has been traced to declining business and consumer confidence due to governance issues affecting the country during the period.
"Investors remain cautious about entering the market as concerns over macroeconomic conditions persist," Limlingan added. "In addition, more firms are releasing their earnings, contributing to the overall mixed sentiment in the market."
