PSE Index Headed to The Doldrums

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index looked headed to the doldrums Thursday, declining by 1.10 percent or 69.98 points to close at 6,305.37.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, May 22, 2025.

The drop followed the U.S. Treasury yield breaching the 5 percent threshold—an event expected to trigger significant market losses.

Analysts noted that further projected challenges for the U.S. economy, including a credit rating downgrade and the impact of new tariffs, are likely to worsen market sentiment and extend losses to emerging markets like the Philippines.

Only the Mining and Oil sub-index posted a gain, rising by 1.12 percent. All other sub-indices posted losses, dragging the market down. At one point, the PSE index sank to 6,269.09 before recovering slightly due to bargain hunting.

Market bellwether SM Investments dropped to as low as ₱853 before closing at ₱865, still down by ₱15.

The Financials sector declined by 1.20 percent, Industrials by 1.10 percent, Services by 0.58 percent, Holding Firms by 1.23 percent, and Property by 1.31 percent. Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) was the most actively traded stock with ₱614 million in trades. It lost ₱0.70 to close at ₱136.

Metrobank was the second most active, posting ₱586 million in trades, falling by 3.12 percent or ₱2.35 to close at ₱72.95.

Value turnover reached ₱6.38 billion, with 112 losers, 66 gainers, and 57 unchanged issues. Net foreign selling stood at ₱519.6 million, with foreign buying at ₱2.931 billion versus foreign selling of ₱3.451 billion.

Among the losers were Ayala Land, Universal Robina, SM Prime, DigiPlus, PNB, Union Bank, Security Bank, Aboitiz Power, ACEN Corp., EastWest, Meralco, and Manila Water,

Alternergy, Megawide, Jollibee Foods, First Gen, Semirara Mining, Monde Nissin, Shell Pilipinas, Shakey's Pizza, Ayala Corp., GT Capital, Cosco Capital, DMCI Holdings, Araneta Properties, JG Summit, LT Group, San Miguel, Megaworld, DoubleDragon, Puregold, Bloomberry, Belle Corp., Wilcon Depot, Nickel Asia, PLDT, and AREIT REIT also dropped.

Among the gainers were BDO Unibank, Emperador, Apex Mining, Bright Kindle, PhilWeb, Citicore RE, Citicore REIT, Petron, SPNEC, Ginebra, Keepers Holdings, Victorias, Globe Telecom, Robinsons Retail, Anscor, Boulevard Holdings, Philex Mining, OceanaGold, PXP Energy, GMA-7, and Century Pacific Food.

Unchanged stocks included Aboitiz Equity, Roxas and Co., Vitarich, MRC Mining, Oriental Petroleum, DITO CME, Cebu Air, STI Holdings, Metro Retail, Philodrill, and Haus Talk.