PSE Index Down On Ghost Month Fears

The August ghost month arrived early on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index today, with all sub-indices posting substantial losses.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, August 2, 2024

The PSE index closed at 6,605.30 points, down by 88.53 points or 1.32%. It opened at 6,672.47 points, which was its highest price point, before declining to a low of 6,562.91 points.

Among the top 10 most active stocks, only Globe Telecom posted gains, while all others were down. ICTSI, the most traded stock, saw a value turnover of over PHP 1.3 billion but lost PHP 10 or 2.78% to close at PHP 350.

Market bellwether SM Investments dropped by PHP6 to close at PHP901, after hitting a low of PHP895 and a high of PHP917.

Services bore the brunt of the sell-down, declining by 1.97% as investors anticipate the so-called August ghost month, which starts next Monday and is believed to be unfavorable for business.

Financials fell by 1.67%, holding firms by 0.55%, industrials by 1.09%, property by 1.11%, and mining and oil by 0.88%.

Value turnover amounted to PHP4.9 billion, while total foreign trades reached PHP5 billion. Foreign buying totaled PHP2.47 billion, while foreign selling hit PHP2.66 billion, resulting in net foreign selling of PHP189 million.

Among the gainers were Metrobank, PNB, DoubleDragon, Enex Energy, Aboitiz Power, Citicore RE, First Gen, Emperador, Ginebra, Steniel, Oriental Petroleum, Philodrill, OceanaGold, GT Capital, Monde Nissin, Cosco Capital, San Miguel, Apex Mining, Atlas Mining, OceanaGold, and MRC Allied.

Stocks that remained unchanged included Alternergy, Meralco, Axelum, Nexgen Energy, CEMEX Holdings, AREIT, and PhilWeb.

The losers included BDO Unibank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Jollibee Foods, Ayala Corporation, Century Pacific Food, Security Bank, Union Bank, EastWest Bank, China Bank, Roxas and Company, SM Prime, Ayala Land, Semirara Mining, Petron, Synergy Grid, PSE, ACEN Corporation, SPNEC, AgriNurture, Figaro Coffee, D&L Industries, Megawide, Alliance Global, LT Group, Converge, PLDT, Dito CME, Belle Corporation, Bloomberry, Megaworld, Robinsons Land, DigiPlus, Puregold, and Wilcon Depot.