Index closes lower for 4th straight day

MANILA, Philippines — Share prices continued to slip yesterday–the fourth consecutive day of decline – as investors remained cautious and decided to wait for better catalysts to stay in the market.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index finished at 5,845.80, down 46.92 points or 0.80 percent while the broader All Shares gauge closed at 3,521.95, down 23.19 points or 0.65 percent.

The decline mirrored the trend in Asia as bourses fell following a slump on Wall Street overnight and as a series of warnings from US Federal Reserve officials underscored investor worries over the resilience of the economic recovery.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday sought comments on the proposed revisions to the listing rules for initial public offerings (IPOs) in the Main and SME Boards.

“We reviewed our listing rules alongside the listing rules of our peer exchanges. We noted that there are provisions in our rules that can be aligned to what is practiced in the region. There are also rules that can be relaxed so more companies can access the stock market for their capital requirements. When we did this exercise we also had to consider the impact of the pandemic on the economy and the capital market,” PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said.

A company applying to list on the main board must satisfy the profit test and market capitalization test and meet shareholders’ equity requirement. In the proposed revisions, the market capitalization test was removed but the applicant must satisfy both the profit and minimum total stockholders’ equity requirements.