PSE ready to address any stock market glitch

The PHILIPPINE Stock Exchange assured the investing public on Thursday that it’s ready to address any technical glitch in the local stock market – like what was seen overnight in Wall Street – if and when they occur.

“The suspension of trading at the New York Stock Exchange, arising from technical issues, highlights the need for bourses to be prepared for any eventuality. At the PSE, we are very mindful of this and we are always anticipating possible risks,” PSE president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat said in a press statement.

The PSE has been using its new trading system, the PSEtrade XTS for three weeks now, following a successful launch on June 22.

Sicat also noted that the market’s recent movement and trading activity participation had been aggravated by reaction to developments in China and Greece.

“External factors have provided selling pressure in the past few days. While these events weigh on the stock market at this time, we remain optimistic that share prices will recover eventually with positive corporate and economic developments providing the impetus for the uptrend. We hope that investors, especially foreign funds, will revisit the fundamentals of the Philippine market and see the bright prospect it has to offer,” Sicat added.

PSEtrade XTS is prepared to handle more volumes and trades even as the local stock market has seen the number trades increase almost fivefold from 2010. This technology is used in more than 100 market places across the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East. In Southeast Asia, this technology is also used by Bursa Malaysia, Singapore Exchange and the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

Since July last year, the PSE has prepared for the system migration through training and certification for traders, rehearsals for all market participants and a series of fora.