Slower growth tanks stocks as peso weakens
THE slump in PSEI performance as well as the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar today, 9 November 2026 was largely triggered by the lower-than-expected domestic economic growth of 2.1 percent in Q3 2026.
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The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) fell 84.03 points, or 1.46 percent, to 5,677.92 on Monday, while the peso weakened 25.5 centavos, or 0.40 percent, to P63.31 per US dollar from Friday’s P63.055 close, as disappointing economic growth, accelerating inflation and concerns over further monetary tightening weighed on Philippine assets.
The local market opened the week on a broadly negative note after the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that gross domestic product grew by only 2.1 percent in the third quarter, slowing from 2.4 percent in the previous quarter and 4 percent a year earlier.
Agriculture contracted 4.8 percent, industry was nearly flat, while household consumption expanded by just 2.4 percent. Gross capital formation, a measure of investment, declined 0.2 percent.
Weak domestic demand, subdued investment
The figures point to weak domestic demand and subdued investment, raising concerns about the economy’s ability to recover while borrowing costs and living expenses remain elevated.
Only Mining and Oil advanced among the sectoral indices, gaining 2.34 percent. Property posted the steepest decline, falling 2.07 percent. Semirara Mining and Power Corp. led PSEi gainers, rising 1.66 percent, while Manila Electric Co. was the biggest laggard, dropping 4.93 percent.
Trading was subdued, with market value turnover at P4.90 billion. Foreign investors were net sellers, recording outflows of P233.95 million.
Peso’s depreciation
The peso’s depreciation reflected the combination of domestic economic concerns and persistent external dollar demand.
October inflation accelerated to 7.8 percent from 7.2 percent in September, with transport prices rising 20.1 percent year on year, compared with 14.6 percent previously. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels inflation also accelerated to 9.3 percent from 8.4 percent.
The faster price increases strengthen the case for further BSP tightening, but also threaten household purchasing power and business costs.