TRADING AT the local stock market was delayed for almost an hour on Monday due to telecommunication line issues, according to a top official.
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) started trading at around 10:15 a.m. yesterday, 45 minutes later than its scheduled daily opening of 9:30 a.m.
“It was a telecommunication line issue,” PSE Chief Operating Officer Roel A. Refran said in a text message, clarifying that a security breach did not cause the delay.
“We are already up and running and all systems are in order. We will observe the regular trading schedule,” Mr. Refran said in a message upon the market’s opening.
The PSE officially opens trading activities at 9:30 a.m. A 1.5-hour recess is observed from 12 noon to 1:29 p.m., after which trading resumes until the market closes at 3:30 p.m.
The benchmark PSE index closed 2.24% higher on Monday, rallying to 7,532.90 after United States President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a 90-day truce on their ongoing trade war.
Mr. Trump had earlier planned to hike tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods by Jan. 1, 2019, but agreed to delay its imposition following negotiations with Mr. Xi at the G20 Summit in Argentina over the weekend. — Arra B. Francia
