Corruption Issues Continue To Hound PSE as it Sinks To Support Level

Corruption issues surrounding flood control projects—some of which have turned out to be ghost or unfinished works—dragged the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index down to its support level at 6,000.32 points, a hefty loss of 108.54 points or 1.78 percent.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, October 6, 2025

This was highlighted by the Top 10 most active stocks were all in the red.

Only the surge in gold prices, which hit a new record above $3,900 per ounce at $3,927, allowed the mining and oil sub-index to buck the trend.

OceanaGold rose by 2.94 percent to ₱28.05, Philex Mining advanced by 3.57 percent to ₱8.70, Apex Mining climbed by 4.25 percent to ₱10.80, and Atlas Mining gained 1.41 percent to ₱4.31. 

The mining and oil sector glittered with a 2.61 percent increase.

Financials slipped 1.98 percent as BDO Unibank declined 1.81 percent to ₱135.50, Bank of the Philippine Islands fell 3.89 percent to ₱108.60, and Metrobank dropped 1.29 percent to ₱69.10. 

The holding firms sector posted the biggest loss at 2.02 percent, with market bellwether SM Investments falling 1.74 percent to ₱732, after rising earlier to ₱750 when the PSE index hit an intraday high of 6,129.10 points before losing momentum.

Property declined 1.43 percent as real estate giants Ayala Land and SM Prime dropped 2.89 percent to ₱23.50 and 1.32 percent to ₱22.35, respectively.

The industrial sector shed 1.64 percent, while services dipped 0.78 percent. ICTSI, the day’s most active stock with ₱904 million in trades, slipped 0.78 percent to ₱508, while gaming stock DigiPlus lost 0.39 percent to ₱25.55. 

Globe Telecom fell 1.80 percent to ₱1,530, and PLDT eased 0.36 percent to ₱1,115.

Market breadth was negative, with 64 gainers, 139 losers, and 58 unchanged.

Value turnover amounted to ₱12.11 billion, boosted by a ₱6.18 billion transaction involving the tender offer of 8990 Holdings, where 593.7 million shares were sold in a block at ₱10.42 per share.

There was net foreign selling of ₱341 million, based on foreign buying of ₱2.311 billion and foreign selling of ₱2.652 billion.

Analysts described the market as bearish-neutral, citing continued uncertainty amid the emerging, piecemeal disclosures on the extent of flood control projects tainted by corruption—ranging from the release of government funds for ghost projects to incomplete infrastructure works.

Among the gainers were China Bank, PNB, ACEN Corp., Citicore REIT, Abacore, Robinsons Land, PhilSeven, Vista Land, and VistaREIT.

Unchanged issues included PSE, Cebu Landmasters, and Cosco Capital. Losers included Aboitiz Equity, Ayala Corp., Security Bank, Union Bank, Monde Nissin, Jollibee Foods, Bloomberry, Megaworld, Wilcon Depot, SSI Group, National Reinsurance, Alternergy, Topline, and Emperador.