By Leslie D. Venzon
MANILA, Aug. 24 (PNA) — The local stock market plunged to its lowest single-day close on Monday on massive sell-off amid continued uncertainties in the global markets.
Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) President and Chief Executive Officer Hans Sicat said the heightened volatility stemmed from China’s surprise decision to devalue its currency and the decline of commodity prices with oil costs reaching their new lows.
“I would argue that what is happening in the Philippines today and the last few days is very much consistent with the pressures being felt across all emerging markets. It’s not just the equities asset classes, we are seeing that across various asset classes,” he said in a press briefing.
Sicat said the stock market plunge “is probably near but not quite at the levels we saw during the global financial crisis.”
He said total market capitalization declined by PhP764.44 billion to PhP12.27 trillion from its weekend value of PhP14.04 trillion.
The PSE index nosedived 487.97 points or 6.70 percent to 6,791.01 from Thursday’s 7,278.98 finish. Friday was a special non-working holiday in observance of Ninoy Aquino Day.
This is the 11th biggest recorded drop for the index and the biggest one-day percentage decline after June 13, 2013 when the PSEi plummeted 6.75 percent or 442.57 points.
All counters lost significantly, led by mining and oil and property posting 8.85-percent and 8.29-percent decline.
Volume of transactions reached 2.37 billion shares valued at PhP13.03 billion.
Decliners swamped advancers, 212 to 13, while 20 issues were unchanged. (PNA)