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Philippine Exchange Says to Disregard Benchmark Index Data After 15% Jump
The Philippine Stock Exchange said investors should “disregard” its data on the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index after its figures showed the measure surged by a record 15 percent today.
The transfer to a new trading system caused the glitch, the exchange said in an e-mailed statement. The benchmark fell less than 0.1 percent to 3,414.03 at the noon close in Manila, the bourse said in a separate statement. The gauge climbed 15 percent to 3,937.39 earlier today while the Philippine Stock Exchange Finance Index more than tripled.
“Brokers are very careful, trades are being done one at a time to avoid mistakes,” Peter Lee, senior investment officer at Manila-based IGC Securities Inc., said in a phone interview today. “Prices are double checked especially those stocks that are not within their trading usual range. Nobody wants to commit a mistake.”
The problem affected “index values and market statistics” but not share prices of individual stocks, the exchange said. The exchange’s website will reflect later the correct index level and market statistics today, it said.
Some index stocks moved beyond their usual trading ranges. SM Investments Corp., owner of the nation’s biggest mall operator, dropped by a record 20 percent earlier, while Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power retailer, lost 9.3 percent, the most since Nov. 6.
More Trades
The new trading system will allow the exchange to handle more trades and complete transactions faster, Chairman Hans Sicat said in May. He also said then the new platform would allow the exchange to extend its 2 1/2 trading hours and expand its products that can be traded including debt and derivatives.
The exchange’s new trading system uses software developed by NYSE Technologies SAS, a unit of NYSE Euronext, the Philippine Exchange said today. It replaces a platform in use since 1993, it said.
The volume of trades fell 63 percent to 1.63 billion pesos ($35 million), the stock exchange said in a statement. That’s the smallest amount of trade since Sept. 28, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino is set to give his “state of the nation” speech today after his election victory in May. Philippine stocks typically fall before a president’s inaugural state of nation address, based on data from previous speeches since the country returned to democracy 24 years ago. They usually rebound the following day.
“It pays to listen to a president’s initial state of the nation speech because you get a glimpse on the government’s direction in the next six years,” said Jonathan Ravelas, strategist at Manila-based Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. “Investors tend to hold back and stay on the sidelines until the roadmap is put on the table.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Ian C. Sayson in Manila at isayson@bloomberg.net
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