MANILA, Philippines — Trading hours at the Philippine Stock Exchange will return to their pre-pandemic schedule, as easing restrictions help the local bourse operator adjust to the difficult operating environment created by the health crisis.
Starting December 6, the PSE will resume its full day, five-hour trading schedule in which the market will pre-open at 9:00 a.m. and close at 3:00 p.m., according to a memo dated November 22.
Trading at the local stock market has been shortened to end by 1 p.m. since March 16 last year, or when the whole country was placed on hard lockdowns to control the spread of coronavirus. During that time, intense virus fears triggered a brutal sell-off that sank local equities to historic-low and prompted the PSE to activate its circuit breakers.
An interagency task force managing the disease control has allowed the country’s financial markets to operate under a skeletal force. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral