Stock index plunges by 6.7%

The local stock barometer on Monday saw its worst single-day drop in history as concerns over the Chinese economy resulted in a bloodbath across global markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index pulled back by 487.97 points or 6.7 percent to close at 6,791.01. In terms of points, this was the biggest decline in a single day, resulting in a loss of P764 billion in capitalization in a single day.

In terms of percentage decline, this was the 11th sharpest decline in history. The market had seen worse decline during the US-epicentered global financial crisis, when the PSEi lost 12.27 percent on Oct. 27, 2008.

“Market players were emotional as they digested the weakness in US markets and negative data from China, causing the local currency and stock market to slide to new lows,” said Banco de Oro Unibank chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas.

Monday’s decline turned the PSEi’s year-to-date gain into a loss of about 6 percent.

All counters ended in the red but the mining/oil and property counters were the worst hit, both falling by over 8 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P13 billion.  There were only 13 advancers while there were 212 decliners. Twenty stocks were unchanged.

Megaworld tumbled by 11.42 percent while GTCAP declined by 10.13 percent.   Doris Dumlao-Abadilla