PSE Index Crumbles As Trading Spooked By "Ghost Month"

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index crumbled to a new low Monday, with property and industrial sectors posting significant losses at the start of the August ghost month, closing two milestone levels lower at 6,434.73 points, down by 170.56 points or 2.58 percent.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, August 5, 2024

The property sector declined by 3.35 percent, while the industrial sector lost 3.53 percent as the market hit new lows, dropping as far as 6,397.50 before slightly recovering due to bargain hunting.

Holdings decreased by 2.44 percent, mining and oil by 2.64 percent, services by 1.30 percent, and financials by 2.22 percent.

Losers outnumbered gainers by five to one, with 175 losers against 34 gainers, and 45 shares unchanged as the start of the August ghost month continued to weigh heavily on the stock market.

The top 10 most active stocks were also in negative territory, highlighting the extent of the sell-off, as folklore suggests that when ghosts roam the streets, it is not advisable to make investments.

Value turnover amounted to ₱5.6 billion, with total foreign trades reaching ₱4.7 billion. There were ₱2.048 billion in foreign buying and ₱2.670 billion in foreign selling, resulting in net foreign selling of ₱621 million.

Top-traded ICTSI lost ₱2 to close at ₱348 on trades of ₱581 million, while market bellwether SM Investments closed down ₱17 to ₱884.

Among the losers were Universal Robina, Bank of the Philippine Islands, BDO Unibank, SM Prime, Ayala Land, Metrobank, ACEN Corp., Globe Telecom, Security Bank, Union Bank, Meralco, Manila Water, Citicore REIT, Synergy Grid, Petron, and Semirara Mining.

Also joining the stocks in the red were Shell Pilipinas, D&L Industries, Emperador, PLDT, JG Summit, San Miguel, GT Capital, LT Group, Jollibee Foods, Ayala Corp., Monde Nissin, Roxas & Co., CEMEX Holdings, Steniel, Abacore, and Aboitiz Equity.

The gainers were Alternergy, Axelum, Figaro Coffee, MRC Allied, PAL, and Philodrill, while those unchanged included China Bank, Basic Energy, Wilcon Depot, and Century Pacific Food.