PSE Index Drops To New Low

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index today declined to a new low, closing a milestone down the line on new geopolitical tension in the Middle East, to close at 6,562.43 points, down by 96.90 points or 1.46 percent.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, April 15, 2024

Market bellwether SM Investments went down a low of P950 as the Iran-Israel conflict flared up, slowing down global economic growth with the rise in fuel prices, and other supply chain problems.

Holding firms posted a hefty loss of 1.99 percent as only three of the top ten most active stocks posted small gains.

Ayala Land, which emerged most active, was up due to a buyback protocol, while DigiPlus and PLDT rose on dividend plays.

Ranged against its April 1 close of 6,979.81 points, the market has already lost 5.79 percent from its week-ago level when it was already down by 2.65 percent. Industrials went down by 1.22 percent, Financials by 1.68 percent, services by 0.68 percent, and property down by 0.91 percent.

Only the mining and oil sub-index posted a gain on speculation on gold, the asset class that goes up with geopolitical tension.

Among the gainers were Atlas Mining, Benguet Corp A, SSI Group, Phil Seven, Puregold, DMCI, Union Bank, Basic Energy, Semirara Mining, and Ginebra. Unchanged were Figaro Coffee, Premium Leisure, and Benguet B.

The losers were San Miguel, GT Capital, Cosco Capital, Bloomberry, Belle Corp, Bank of PI, BDO Unibank, Metrobank, Security Bank, ACEN Corp, Converge, Dito CME, GMA-7, ABS-CBN, Globe Telecom, Emperador, Manila Water, Meralco, Synergy Grid, First Gen, JG Summit, Axelum, and AgriNurture. 

Foreign buying amounted to P2.741 billion and foreign selling reached p3. 051 billion for net foreign selling of P304.7 million. Value turnover amounted to P5.57 billion with 63 gainers, 136 losers, and 44 shares unchanged