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PHILIPPINE stocks declined on Monday following the imposition of tighter restrictions in Metro Manila due to rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 81.36 points or 1.14% to 7,041.27, while the broader all shares index lost 40.22 points or 1.05% to 3,777.90 on the first trading day of the year.

“Investors unloaded positions as COVID-19 risks escalate amid the rise in infections and the detection of more cases in the country with the Omicron variant,”Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

“The return of the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 3 status, which somehow poses challenges to the region’s and the country’s economy also dampened sentiment,” Mr. Tantiangco added, noting trading volume was also tepid on Monday.

Value turnover was at P4.26 billion with 722.25 million issues traded on Monday, down from the P5.38 billion with 623.43 million shares that switched hands on Friday.

Papa Securities Corp. Equities Strategist Manny P. Cruz said expectations of higher cases in the coming weeks after the positivity rate leaped to 28% also affected trading.

“Market was down on Omicron jitters and forecast of a surge by mid-month,” First Metro Investment Corp. Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang said in a Viber message.

The national task force put NCR under Alert Level 3 from Jan. 3-15 amid a fresh surge in cases.

The country on Monday logged 4,084 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the country’s current active infections to 24,992.

OCTA Research Group, a private research firm, earlier said NCR is at high risk for COVID-19 transmission as the positivity rate in the capital is now at 28.03%.

The Health department has also tagged the country as high risk as cases continue to climb.

“Nationally, we are now high-risk case classification showing a positive two-week growth rate at 222% and moderate average daily attack rate at 1.07 per 1,000 individuals,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire said in a press briefing on Monday.

All sectoral indices ended in the red except for mining and oil, which gained 113.98 points or 1.18% to end at 9,715.68.

On the other hand, property lost 93.30 points or 2.89% to close at 3,126.38; financials dropped 25.32 points or 1.57% to 1,580.85; services declined 28.17 points or 1.41% to 1,958.20; industrials fell 86.30 points or 0.82% to 10,317.79; and holding firms went down by 3.78 points or 0.05% to 6,803.49.

Decliners beat advancers, 141 versus 66, while 40 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling decreased to P233.82 million on Monday from the P413.64 million recorded on Friday. — MCL

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