PSE Index Slumps on Political Noise

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index slumped on political noise, closing at 6,031.48 points, down 47.54 points or 0.78%.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, December 18, 2025

All of the Top 10 most active stocks finished in the red, with many blue chips hitting new intraday lows as investors scurried away from the market amid the fresh political uncertainty.

The market initially surged at the opening, but news that filtered in regarding possible suits against congressional leaders unnerved investors.

This triggered a sell-down after the index hit an intraday high of 6,080.01 points, sending the market tumbling to an intraday low of 6,020.66.

All sub-indices declined, led by the property sector, which dropped 1.62%.

Ayala Land slid 2.87% to ₱22.00, while SM Prime fell 2.60% to ₱22.50. Financials retreated 0.34%, industrials slipped 0.43%, holding firms dropped 0.92%, services declined 0.32%, and mining and oil fell 0.40%.

Market bellwether SM Investments hit an intraday low of ₱695 after touching a high of ₱708 during the opening rally before the index cratered on political concerns.

Jollibee Foods emerged as the most active stock, closing 2.83% lower at ₱182.00, after trading between a high of ₱187.80 and a low of ₱180.90.

Aboitiz Power was among the day’s biggest losers, ending down 3.78% at ₱42.05 after reaching a high of ₱44.00. DigiPlus slid 4.40% to ₱15.20, while Maynilad closed 2.31% lower at ₱16.04.

Value turnover reached ₱12.81 billion, though ₱7.93 billion came from block sales.

These were led by Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., where ₱6.3 billion worth of shares were transacted at ₱59.50 apiece. Net foreign selling totaled ₱361 million, with foreign buying at ₱10.443 billion and selling at ₱10.805 billion.

There were 91 gainers, 95 losers, and 66 unchanged stocks, including GT Capital, Basic Energy, Cosco Capital, Citicore REIT, and Alliance Global.

Among the gainers were Petron, UnionBank, ABS-CBN, OceanaGold, Universal Robina, and First Gen. Losers included ICTSI, BDO Unibank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Apex Mining, San Miguel Corp., and PLDT.