A short-lived rally that briefly pushed the Philippine Stock Exchange Index’s (PSEi) gains above 7 percent quickly fizzled as gravity took hold once again.
By Thursday, investors had another reason to sell after fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth disappointed at just 3 percent—below the Bloomberg consensus of 3.7 percent and Philippine National Bank’s relatively bearish forecast of 3.2 percent.
This triggered a broad sell-off, with the PSEi finishing the session at 6,223.36, down 2.08 percent.
The recent pullback also wiped out most of the index’s gains for 2026.
Analysts’ view
Shawn Atienza, AP Securities research analyst, said hopes for a quick economic rebound are fading as investment remains weak, despite lower interest rates starting to filter through the economy.
This was also confirmed by the disappointing fourth-quarter GDP print.
“This then puts our [full-year 2025] GDP growth to 4.4 percent, another miss from the government target of 5 percent and median estimate of 4.6 percent,” Atienza explained.
Atienza said a third-quarter 2026 rebound is possible if private investments pick up.
AP Securities is so far keeping its year-end PSEi target at 7,378.24, which implies an 18.6 percent upside from the current level.
Mining continues to shine
The sell-down was seen across a wide range of companies, with all subsectors pulling back on Thursday. Foreigners were also net sellers to the tune of P406.2 million, data from the stock exchange showed.
The sole gainer was mining and oil, which added 1.17 percent, thanks to gains by tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.’s Apex Mining Co. (+3.23 percent to P15.98), the SM Group’s Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development (+4.28 percent to P9.50), OceanaGold Philippines (+1.74 percent to P0.65), and Manuel V. Pangilinan-led PXP Energy Corp. (+4.17 percent to P3.00).
While not included in the index, the Sy-backed Dominion Holdings surged nearly 29 percent to P4.09 per share due to speculation the family’s stake in the massive Tampakan gold-copper project will be folded into the shell firm.
The Alcantara family also has a stake in the project, boosting Alsons Consolidated Resources’ price by 18.5 percent to P0.77 each on Thursday.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
