(Bloomberg) — The Philippine Stock Exchange halted market trading on Wednesday without providing a reason, frustrating investors during the first week of the year.
Most Read from Bloomberg
“Kindly stand by for further announcements,” the bourse said in a post on social media platform X. Officials of the exchange have not immediately responded to requests for comment.
“There’s a lot of frustration from traders and investors” after the key stock index breached the psychologically important 6,500 mark on Tuesday, said Jonathan Ravelas, managing director at eManagement for Business and Marketing Services.
“People want continuity, there should be a backup system in place for such situations. But I’m not too worried as it seems to be a technical glitch. There was no unusual activity in the market. In the past, trading has resumed within a couple of hours typically,” Ravelas said.
Two years ago, the Philippine bourse canceled trading following a system glitch. The bourse had to suspend trading after 43 brokers were unable to connect to its system.
In January 2023, the market opening was delayed by about half an hour in what the exchange described then as a “minor technical” problem. The bourse also halted afternoon trading, citing technical reasons, in December 2021.
With a capitalization of $229.7 billion, the Philippine stock market is smaller compared to neighbors Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.
–With assistance from Ditas Lopez, Cliff Venzon and Lianting Tu.
(Adds analyst comment, details throughout.)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
