Ghost Silhouette Hits Market

The silhouette of Ghost Month startled the market Wednesday, with total trades down 23 percent and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) declining by 7.19 points, or 0.11 percent, to 6,318.23 points.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, July 30, 2025

Four of the sub-indices posted losses, while industrial and property rose by 0.29 percent and 0.60 percent, respectively.

Financials retreated by 0.59 percent, holding firms declined by 0.33 percent, services dropped by 0.11 percent, and mining and oil lost 0.13 percent. The decline in market interest—evidenced by the 23 percent drop in value turnover to P4.66 billion—commonly occurs during August’s Ghost Month.

According to Chinese belief, this is the time when spirits roam the land, which is why many Chinoy businessmen avoid launching startups during this period.

Even foreign investors appeared cautious, with trades amounting to just P3.73 billion. Foreign buying totaled P1.836 billion, while foreign selling reached P1.894 billion, resulting in net foreign selling of P57 million.

Total turnover amounted to P4.66 billion. Gaming stock DigiPlus once again emerged as the most active, with P846 million in trades—almost a fifth of total turnover—as it rose by 30 centavos to P35.95, up 0.84 percent.

Market bellwether SM Investments closed unchanged at P830, having risen by two fluctuations and fallen by one. There were 87 gainers, 95 losers, and 62 unchanged shares.

Among the gainers were PLDT, Ayala Land, Wilcon Depot, Metrobank, AbaCore, Island Info, Ferronoux, Global Estate, GMA-7, PNB, Alternergy, Citicore RE, Meralco, Petron, Semirara Mining, Universal Robina, Belle Corp, Filinvest Development, JG Summit, Araneta Properties, Megaworld, MREIT RT, Puregold, Vista Land, Apex Mining, Atlas Mining, Philex Mining, Philodrill, and MRC Allied.

Among the losers were Security Bank, Union Bank, ICTSI, BDO Unibank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, SM Prime, Ayala Corp, Lodestar, EastWest, ACEN Corp, Aboitiz Power, First Gen, Manila Water, Synergy Grid, AgriNurture, Megawide, Alliance Global, GT Capital, AREIT RT, Robinsons Land, Globe Telecom, ABS-CBN, Cebu Air, Bloomberry, SSI Group, Nickel Asia, and OceanaGold.

Unchanged stocks included Jollibee Foods, PSE, Basic Energy, LT Group, Cosco Capital, Figaro Coffee, Boulevard Holdings, and Robinsons Retail.