The Philippine stock market in Manila suspended trading for two hours on Wednesday due to technical obstacles. The Philippine Composite Index (PSEI) closed down 0.84% on the day.
Trading in the stock market was suspended due to a technical glitch
In a rare move, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) announced on Wednesday morning that trading had been suspended at 9:32 a.m. After more than two hours of suspension, the exchange announced the resumption of trading at 11:56. The afternoon trading session remained normal. At the end of the day's trading, the exchange announced that the reason for the suspension of trading that day was a technical failure, but did not give specific details.
The Philippine Stock Exchange announced the reason for the suspension of trading
It is understood that the Philippine Stock Exchange will start pre-trading at 9:15 on the day of each trading day, and the official trading hours are 9:30-12:00 and 13:00-15:00.
As of Wednesday's close, the Philippine Composite Index (PSEI) was at 6,498.88 points, down 55.16 points, or 0.84%. Among them, the financial sector fell by 1.31%, leading the market. In addition, the services sector and the industrial sector were among the top decliners.
The Philippine Stock Exchange, as a listed company, did not suffer much on the day, closing up slightly by 0.11%.
According to the official website of the Philippine Stock Exchange, the exchange was established on December 23, 1992 and is the only stock exchange in the Philippines. In addition, the exchange is also one of the longest-running stock exchanges in Asia, dating back to two of the country's oldest exchanges – the Manila Stock Exchange (founded in 1927) and the Makati Stock Exchange (founded in 1963). The Manila and Makati exchanges merged on December 23, 1992 to form the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Compared with ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, the performance of the Philippine stock market in recent years has not been ideal. The Philippine Composite Index has been declining since hitting an all-time high of 9,078.37 points in 2018. In 2020, affected by the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the stock index once fell to 4039 points, down 8.64% that year. For the whole of 2023, the index fell by 1.77%.
PSEI Index Performance in 2023
The Philippine economy is gradually recovering
The performance of the Philippine stock market was flat, more dragged down by the country's economic performance.
In 2020, the Philippines' GDP fell by 9.5% from the previous year. It was the first time the country's economy had contracted since 1998 and its worst annual performance since records began in 1946. In 2021, with the full recovery of the service sector, the Philippine GDP economic growth rate recovered to 5.6% in real terms, and further increased to 7.6% in 2022.
In the third quarter of 2023, the Philippine GDP grew by 5.9%, compared to 5.5% in the first three quarters. Arsenio Balisacan, head of the Philippine National Economic Development Agency (NEDA), said GDP has recovered and surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
He noted that most industries have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels. "Although some sectors, such as mining and quarrying, construction, transportation and warehousing, accommodation and catering, real estate, and other services, have not fully recovered as of the end of the third quarter, it also means that we can still expect these sectors to continue to grow as drivers of economic growth, especially in efforts to continue to boost tourism and ramp up the construction of major projects," he said. "
To further boost growth, the Board of Directors of the National Economic Development Agency, chaired by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Junio, approved 197 infrastructure flagship projects totaling 8.7 trillion pesos. These projects aim to address long-standing infrastructure deficiencies.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its Asian Development Outlook report released in December, maintained the Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2023 and 2024 at 5.7% and 6.2%. Meanwhile, ADB maintained its forecast for inflation in the Philippines at 6.2% in 2023 and 4% in 2024.
Household consumption in the Philippines slowed in the third quarter due to rising inflation, but remained strong amid low unemployment and stable remittances from overseas workers, ADB said.
At the same time, Philippine government spending, infrastructure spending and employment data also improved, with the manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rising by the strongest in 10 months in November, and double-digit growth in services exports, particularly business process outsourcing and tourism. The business outlook for 2024 will be more optimistic due to strong domestic demand.
Editor-in-charge: Ye Shuyun
Proofreading: Liao Shengchao
Copyright Notice
All original content on the platforms of the Securities Times shall not be reproduced by any unit or individual without written authorization. Our company reserves the right to pursue the legal responsibility of relevant actors.
For reprinting and cooperation, please contact the Securities Times assistant, WeChat ID: SecuritiesTimes
END
Click on a keyword to view it
Periscope Series In-depth Report丨Stock Board Column丨Investing in Xiaohongshu丨E Company Investigation丨Times Meeting Room丨Top Ten Celebrity Private Equity Interviews丨Northeast Group Pets, Hot Search!Harbin Municipal Government Held Meetings One After Another, and Stocks Have Continued to Rise and Fall!丨Huawei and Knowing Chedi Stop Cooperation?The Latest Response!丨Eight Departments Jointly Issued!This Sector Exploded丨Big Dive! Apple Evaporated Over 700 Billion in One Night丨Sold a Car in 6 Seconds! Tesla Released丨Shanghai Municipal Party Secretary Spoke!Big News on the Property Market丨"The Box Office Lost Badly"! Feng Xiaogang's movie Waterloo, 66-year-old Ge You: I can't act in the drama of falling in love! The box office of the movie on New Year's Day set a record丨The National Standing Committee has made a heavy deployment! This sector has set off a tide of price limits! The Red Sea crisis has escalated, and the daily limit of container shipping futures has been set across the board