PSEi shed 12.8% last year

After a volatile year marked with extreme ups and downs, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Wednesday said the local index (PSEi) lost 12.8 percent year-on-year in 2018.

At its last trading day on 28 December, the index closed lower to 7,466.02, down 16.64 points or by 0.2 percent.

Philippine stocks ended the preceding year, 2017, in an all-time high, closing at 8,558.42 points to a 25.1 percent gain for the year, with all sectors moving up. This was followed by another record when the index closed at 9,058.62 points in January 2018.

Total value turnover was recorded at P1.74 trillion in 2018. The average trading turnover was at P7.15 billion per day, lower than the P8.06 billion daily average value turnover recorded in 2017.

Total market capitalization ended at P16.15 trillion, 8.17 percent lower compared to last year’s P17.58 trillion.

With all indices finishing lower in 2018, the mining and oil index shed the most at 28.7 percent, owing to big setbacks during the year. The mining and oil index was also the only sector which didn’t grow in 2017, inching down by 3 percent.

“Looking at the stock market’s performance this 2018, it may not be as good as what most hoped for but it is also not as bad as some feared,” PSE chairman Jose Pardo said at the last trading day ceremony.

During the first regular trading day on 2 January, the index gained 23.18 points to close at 7,489.20, up 0.31 percent. The broader all-shares index was also up by 0.06 percent or 2.82 points to 4,520.67.

Three sectoral indices moved to positive territory, led by the property index up by 2.37 percent or 86.08 points to 3,714.06. The mining and oil index, meanwhile, showed signs of recovering with an increase of 145.93 points, up 1.78 percent to 8,346.43. The services index was also up by 0.54 percent, or 7.75 points to 1,450.46.