From the Philippine Stock Exchange
The Philippines’ main stock index crashed deep below the 5,000-mark on Thursday as bloodbath continued in the equities market amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
P1.16 trillion in value was wiped out of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) as the bellwether PSEi lost 13.34 percent or nearly 712 points to close at 4,623.42 on shortened trading on Thursday. It was the lowest since Jan. 26, 2012 and the bourse’s worst loss.
All other subindices fell by double-digit rates.
A total of 1.2 billion shares worth 9.4 billion changed hands. Foreign investors sold more stocks than they bought, P6.7 billion versus P4.3 billion.
Corpecon Research tweeted that the PSEi crash was “not yet uncharted.”
“At worst, last precedent to use for a rock bottom is the US 1981 crash. But it is already close to our current one.”
#PSEi drop not yet uncharted. At worst, last precedent to use for a rock bottom is US 1981 crash. But it is already close to our current one
— Corpecon Research (@corpecon) March 19, 2020
The PSEi crash was worse than other bourses. The Dow Jones lost 6.3 percent to end at 19,898.92, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 2.61 percent to 21,709.13. The FTSE 100 lost 0.76 percent to 5,044.32 as London weighed the consequences of a lockdown.
The Philippine bourse shut down for two days after an “enhanced quarantine” was announced all over Luzon. The government on Wednesday exempted capital markets from quarantine, allowing stock trading to resume. (PressONE.ph)