Philippine shares retreat on profit-taking as NCR implements GCQ curfew

Philippine shares retreated on Wednesday as concerns over the curfew in Metro Manila despite the region’s return to more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ) compelled investors to cash in gains from previous sessions.

The bellwether PSEi shed 114.33 points or 1.86% to 6,042.12 at the closing bell. The broader All Shares lost 44.42 points or 1.22% to 3,591.36.

“The PSEi ended substantially lower today as investors remained cautious and were quick to take profits,” AAA Equities head of research Chris Mangun said.

“The government announced that a unified curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. will be implemented in Metro Manila. This could have hurt sentiment as current conditions are more restrictive than before the imposition of MECQ (modified enhance community quarantine),” he added.

Metro Manila mayors have agreed to implement a curfew starting from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. after the National Capital Region (NCR) returned to general community quarantine, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said. 

“Today's daily loss is the biggest since the beginning of August when the temporary MECQ was issued. We are currently down 0.51% for the week after today's losses,” Mangun said.

More than 1.360 billion shares valued at P5.466 billion, changed hands. Decliners led advancers, 95 to 92, and 42 issues were unchanged. — BM, GMA News