Omicron Rattles Market Anew

Omicron, the COVID-19 variant said to be much lethal than Delta, rattled the market anew with The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index scouring new lows hitting a new low at 6,928, though it nosed a bit to close at 6,947.06, down 253.82 points or 3.52 percent.

Photo Insert: The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, December 1, 2021

Market bellwether SM Investments buckled, losing 4.9 percent to close at p932, down by p48 with trades of p475 million as all sub-indices posted big declines with the property sector losing a hefty 6.01 percent as SM Prime and Ayala Land went down respectively by p2.40 or 6.42 percent to p35 and p1.30 or 3.77 percent to p33.20.

Losers overwhelmed gainers four to one, 165 to 40 while 42 shares were unchanged as all sub-indices declined on value turnover of p14.43 billion. Services lost 3.71 percent, holding firms by 3.26, industrials by 2.36 percent, financials by 2.37 percent, and mining and oil by 1.96 percent.

AC Energy emerged as the most active stock with p1.465 billion, followed by Monde with p1.07 billion, though ACen lost a bigger 4.61 percent or 52 centavos to p10.78, while Monde was down slightly to p17, down by 2 centavos.

Only two of the top 20 active stocks gained - Meralco which advanced by P10 to p298, and J G summit, up 50 centavos to p57.05.

Market players were unnerved with the reported lethal reach of omicron that they dumped shares with PLDT losing p70 to P1,610, Jollibee by p13.80 to p221.20, globe by p146 to P3,136, BDO Unibank by P6 to p118, and ICTSI by p5 to p192.50.

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