PSEi down 14.4% in dreadful week for stocks

The local stock barometer ended the worst week seen in recent history with a modest rebound after a roller-coaster ride on Friday that triggered a circuit-breaker for the second straight session.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered 57.67 points or 1 percent to close at 5,793.94, supported by local investors who made up for about P1.64 billion in net foreign selling.

For the week, the PSEi lost 976.44 points or 14.4 percent, cementing bearish bias in the market. Since its introduction during the US-epicentered global financial crisis in 2008, the PSE’s circuit-breaker was triggered for two sessions in a row for the first time in history.

“The market wildly gyrated today, declining as low as 5,097, which triggered the PSE’s 10-percent circuit breaker and ushered in a 15-minute cool off period for investors to snap back to their senses. Investors did take the break to regain some sort of composure and digest some of the latest developments which prompted them to reassess their trades,” said PNB Securities president Manuel Lisbona.

“News of central banks’ increases in liquidity as well as economic support measures from international governments provided much-needed comfort. What seems to have spurred the recovery intraday is a reported deceleration in the spread of the virus in Wuhan with just five new cases reported,” Lisbona added.

After opening at 5,362.92, the market found its bottom for the day at 5,097.90, a new 52-week low for the index. Elsewhere in the world, risk aversion remained high.

On Friday, the market was led higher by the financial and services counters, which both rose by more than 3 percent. The holding firm counter also added 1.3 percent.

On the other hand, the mining/oil, property and industrial counters remained in the doldrums, respectively falling by 4.72 percent, 2.5 percent and 0.65 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.72 billion.

Despite the PSEi’s gain for the day, market breadth was negative. There were more decliners (139) than advancers (87) in the market, indicating selective buying of large-cap stocks.

Tycoon Enrique Razon-led port operator ICTSI, one of the local firms with the most global footprint, recovered 6.18 percent.

SM Investments – the most valuable conglomerate in the country with market-leading interests in banking, retailing and property development – rebounded by 5.25 percent and was the most actively traded company. Its banking arm BDO also rose by 5.83 percent.

Telecom firms PLDT and Globe Telecom both rose by more than 5 percent.

Infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific, Metrobank and Meralco all added over 4 percent.

BPI recouped 3.82 percent while URC added 2.59 percent.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was Emperador, which surged by 7.52 percent, supported by the beverage group’s stock buyback program.

On the other hand, Jollibee fell by 8.17 percent while AGI dropped by 7.18 percent.

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. lost 5 percent while property giants Ayala Land and SM Prime slipped by 2.65 percent and 2.91 percent, respectively. Retailer Puregold also was down 2 percent.