SHARE prices plunged on Thursday after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic, further souring investor sentiment, with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) halting trading for a few minutes after the main index dropped more than 10 percent to reach the 5,700-point level and triggered the circuit breaker rule.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended the day 616.99 points, down 9.7 percent, to close at 5,736.27 points.
The last time the main index was in this position was on December 18, 2012, when it closed at 5,636.59 point.
“This is only the second time that the circuit breaker was triggered since the measure was adopted in September 2008. First instance was on October 27, 2008,” the PSE said.
This is the PSEi’s biggest single drop in terms of points and second in terms of percentage, which was also on October 27, 2008, when it fell 12 percent.
The main index fell 10.33 percent in the afternoon trade on Thursday, less than an hour before the close, and trading was halted at 2:53 p.m. and resumed at 3:08 p.m.
According to the rule, trading will be halted for 15 minutes if the main index falls at 10 percent.
The main index slightly recovered with the lifting of trade halt.
“It was another day of harsh sell-offs for local equities as WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic,” Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said.
“Investors reacted to the possibility of a lockdown in Metro Manila to contain the Covid-19 before we have a massive outbreak. The sudden selling coupled with a lack of buying, sent prices into a freefall, something we have not seen since the last financial crisis. The general sentiment has gone from fear to hysteria which may continue until we see more evidence that the virus can be contained,” Christopher Mangun, head of research of AAA Securities Inc., said.
Total volume of trade reached P7.96 billion, with foreign investors ended up net sellers at P773.9 million.
Decliners outnumbered gainers 226 to 7 and 25 shares were unchanged.
All other subindices ended in the red, falling an average of 7 percent.
The broader All Shares index was down 315.96 points to close at 3,492.77, the Financials index fell 153.50 to 1,364.01, the Industrial index dropped 481.38 to 7,117.18, the Holding Firms index declined 624.21 to 5,600.90, the Services index shed 87.91 to 1,148.31, the Mining and Oil index plunged 725.77 to 4,961.75, and the Property index retreated 371.53 to 3,061.86.
Mall operator SM Prime Holdings Inc. was the day’s top traded stock and it fell P3.90, or 11 percent, to close at P30.90, parent firm SM Investments Corp. shed P110 to P790, Ayala Land Inc. dropped P4.30 to P33.90, BDO Unibank Inc. retreated P16 to P120, Ayala Corp. was down P40.50 to P600 and International Container Terminal Services Inc. declined P10 to P80.05.