THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will resume onsite trading activities today as Metro Manila goes into general community quarantine (GCQ).
The trading session will remain shortened, opening at 9:30 a.m. and closed by 1 p.m.
“While our floorless or offsite trading from March 19 to May 29 has proven to be efficient and seamless, we decided to reopen and resume trading on the floor to convey a strong message to the investing public that things are back to ‘normal’ in the capital markets. Hopefully, the optics of the reopening will contribute to the restoration of the general public’s much needed confidence in the recovery of our economy,” said Ramon Monzon, PSE president.
“The brokers who were vacated from the trading floor upon the imposition of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) in Metro Manila had to look for alternative sites where they could transfer their trading operations. This caused them to incur additional expenses for rental, employee board and lodging and connectivity costs. With the reopening of the trading floor, the brokers would be finally be spared from these incremental and substantial expenses,” he added.
Monzon said in reopening the trading floor, PSE “will strictly observe the health and safety guidelines for the workplace prescribed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases), the Department of Health, and the Department of Labor and Employment.Monzon said that while the trading hours will remain “abbreviated,” the PSE “will do what it can as a stock market operator to support initiatives towards the country’s economic recovery.”
