Markets battered by Mideast crisis

Philippine financial markets endured a dual drubbing on Monday, March 9, as an escalating crisis in the Middle East sparked a global flight to safety, sending the local equity benchmark toward a five-month low and the peso to a record weakness.

- JAMES A. LOYOL and DERCO ROSAL

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) retreated 4.97 percent, or 314.19 points, to close at 6,006.22. The selloff was relentless from the opening bell, with the gauge hitting an intraday low of 5,965.03 before a modest recovery late in the session.

All 30 components of the blue-chip index ended in the red amid broad-based liquidation of positions as investors weighed the impact of the potential disruption to energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

The broader All Shares index followed suit, shedding 4.24 percent to end at 3,346.75. Among sectors, holding firms were the worst performers, sliding 5.94 percent as conglomerate valuations buckled under the weight of systemic risk.

Even the mining and oil sub-index, which typically finds support during commodity spikes, succumbed to the general market panic as global risk-off sentiment override sector-specific fundamentals.

The equity rout was mirrored by a historic decline in the foreign exchange market. The peso weakened to a record low of 59.5 per dollar, surpassing the previous trough of 59.44 set on Jan. 14. The currency started the week at 59.25 and faced consistent pressure throughout the day as the greenback firmed globally.