The Philippine peso and stocks continued last week’s decline on Monday, driven lower by the rally in the US dollar and uncertainty about the US presidency under Donald Trump.

The peso ended at near eight-year low to 49.20 against the US dollar on lower transactions at the Philippine Dealing System. Volume reached $661.85 million from Friday’s $707.50 million.

Central bank governor Amando Tetangco said in a statement the peso’s weakness is due to “dollar strength.”

“The other regional currencies also showed weakness today because the expectation of the market is the policies that are going to be adopted by the US government will likely lead to higher interest rates particularly Treasury rates, and as a result of that, capital flows are being moved towards the US. Regional, emerging market-wide”, said Tetangco.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index went down by 1.49 percent, or 103.61 points, to 6,871.46.

The index was weighted down by the disclosure that Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co that its third quarter net income went down by 37 percent to P15.87 billion from P25.34 billion last year.

PLDT shares lost 4.2 percent to end at P1,347. .

In the broader market, 140 shares declined while 46 advanced, led by top gainer Philweb which rose 6.64 percent to P8.99.

Foreign funds sold P4.68 billion worth of shares while buying only P2.989 billion.

Gus Cosio, president of First Metro Asset Management Inc, said in a TV interview waiting tactics are best for the moment.

“Natural reaction of portfolio managers is to reduce exposure, keep cash, and wait til there is more understanding of market,” Cosio told ANC in an interview. DMS