MANILA, Philippines – A whopping P1.16 trillion in market value was wiped out at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, March 19, as the government grapples to contain the novel coronavirus.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed lower by 13.3% to 4,623, its lowest level since January 26, 2012.

The PSEi even plunged by nearly 25% moments after the local bourse resumed trade following a two-day trading suspension. This is the largest fall on record for the benchmark.

Year-to-date, the PSEi is already down by almost 41%. 

Only 8 companies gained during the shortened trading day, while 211 companies lost value.

ATN Holdings was the biggest loser, plunging by over 49%. It now has a stock price of just P0.33 apiece.

Fund transfer and remittance company I-Remit gained over 28%.

SM Investments (down 9.3%), BDO Unibank (down 22.7%), SM Prime (down 5.3%), Ayala Land (down 20.3%), and Ayala Corporation (down 22.8%) were Thursday’s most actively traded stocks.

Volume turnover stood at 1.2 billion shares, valued at P9.4 billion. Foreign buying was at P4.3 billion, while foreign selling stood at P6.7 billion. – Rappler.com