Stocks ended a bit lower while the peso slightly recovered after hitting a near eight-year low on Tuesday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index lost 14.33 points to end at 6,857.15 points. Declines reached 112 while gainers amounted to 72 with 42 issues unchanged.

The peso opened at an intra-day low of P49.27 against the US dollar before surging to P49.050. It closed at P49.170 against the US dollar from Monday’s P49.20.

Volume at the Philippine Dealing System hit $600.9 million from the previous day’s $661.550 million.

In corporate earnings Jollibee Foods Corp said net income rose by 13.8 percent from January to September due to strong domestic and international sales growth.

The large Asian food service company said net income reached P4.39 billion in the January to September period from last year’s P3.86 billion.

In the third quarter alone, Jollibee net income amounted to P1.34 billion, up by 6.1 percent from P1.26 billion in the same period last year.

Sales of restaurant chains in the Philippines rose by 16 percent for the nine-month period.

JG Summit's net income went up by 44.4 percent for the January to September period DMS