The Philippine peso weakened the most in a month and the nation’s benchmark equity index dropped to the lowest level in five weeks after Super Typhoon Haiyan killed as many as 10,000 people and flooded islands.
The peso depreciated 0.5 percent to 43.390 per dollar at 9:48 a.m. local time, while the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PCOMP) retreated 1.4 percent to 6,267.06, the lowest level since Oct. 1. The yield on the government’s dollar bonds due 2021 rose 16 basis points to 3.33 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The economic impact of the year’s most powerful cyclone may reach $14 billion, about $2 billion of which will be insured, Jonathan Adams, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Industries, wrote in a report citing Kinetic Analysis Corp. The storm knocked down buildings, damaged crops and destroyed an airport.
“The typhoon will have a negative impact on both the peso and stocks,” Jonathan Ravelas, the chief market strategist at Manila-based BDO Unibank, the nation’s largest lender, said yesterday. “This will be a big expense for the government and the damage we have seen from reports will impact growth.”
While the official death toll posted by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council was 229 as of 7 p.m. yesterday, the number was expected to rise as the government received reports from provinces still out of reach, Major Rey Balido, spokesman of the disaster-monitoring agency, said in a text message. Almost 9.5 million Filipinos, or about 9 percent of the population, were affected, the agency said.
The difficulty in reaching the hardest-hit areas means the number of dead has yet to be confirmed, said the Red Cross in Geneva, which cited Philippine authorities as saying the toll may reach 10,000.
The prospect of reduced Federal Reserve stimulus is also weighing on markets, said Jerome Gonzalez, the Manila-based head of research at Philequity Management Inc., which oversees about $230 million.
Speculation that the Fed by soon pare back its bond-purchase program increased after figures on Nov. 8 showed employers in the U.S. added 204,000 workers last month, topping the median forecast of 120,000 in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The cost to insure Philippine government bonds for five years using credit-default swaps rose six basis points to 107, according to CMA data.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Sayson in Manila at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Patterson at [email protected]
The peso depreciated 0.5 percent to 43.390 per dollar at 9:48 a.m. local time, while the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PCOMP) retreated 1.4 percent to 6,267.06, the lowest level since Oct. 1. The yield on the government’s dollar bonds due 2021 rose 16 basis points to 3.33 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The economic impact of the year’s most powerful cyclone may reach $14 billion, about $2 billion of which will be insured, Jonathan Adams, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Industries, wrote in a report citing Kinetic Analysis Corp. The storm knocked down buildings, damaged crops and destroyed an airport.
“The typhoon will have a negative impact on both the peso and stocks,” Jonathan Ravelas, the chief market strategist at Manila-based BDO Unibank, the nation’s largest lender, said yesterday. “This will be a big expense for the government and the damage we have seen from reports will impact growth.”
While the official death toll posted by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council was 229 as of 7 p.m. yesterday, the number was expected to rise as the government received reports from provinces still out of reach, Major Rey Balido, spokesman of the disaster-monitoring agency, said in a text message. Almost 9.5 million Filipinos, or about 9 percent of the population, were affected, the agency said.
The difficulty in reaching the hardest-hit areas means the number of dead has yet to be confirmed, said the Red Cross in Geneva, which cited Philippine authorities as saying the toll may reach 10,000.
The prospect of reduced Federal Reserve stimulus is also weighing on markets, said Jerome Gonzalez, the Manila-based head of research at Philequity Management Inc., which oversees about $230 million.
Speculation that the Fed by soon pare back its bond-purchase program increased after figures on Nov. 8 showed employers in the U.S. added 204,000 workers last month, topping the median forecast of 120,000 in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The cost to insure Philippine government bonds for five years using credit-default swaps rose six basis points to 107, according to CMA data.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Sayson in Manila at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Patterson at [email protected]