PSEi down 1.2% in first day of post-Carina trading

The PSEi closed its first day of trading at 6,670, down 1.2% after trading was suspended on Wednesday due to the rains and flooding in Metro Manila from Typhoon Carina. Selling pressure was strongest in the first hour of trading. The session low was reached at around 10:45 AM, when the PSEi touched 6,652 (down 1.5%). It recovered over the next hour to nearly 6,690 and then traded sideways and down for the remainder of the day. As noted by Benjamin Garcia of AP Securities [link], the biggest losers on the day were “companies that had their operations disrupted yesterday,” like banks, mining firms, and casino operators. The biggest winners were “consumer staples”, which Mr. Garcia noted “typically get a boost in sales following widespread calamities.”

MB BOTTOM-LINE: In some ways, the typhoon acted like a one-day COVID. The companies that rely on the mobility of people to get from one place to another were hit the hardest, just as we saw when movement restrictions decimated our economy back in 2020/21. For companies like Nickel Asia [NIKL 3.45 ?2.8%; 259% avgVol], there is no way to recoup a lost day of mining. You can’t just “mine” harder tomorrow A single lost day is just a blip in the short-term and it’s nothing for shareholders to get too worried about, but it is something that shareholders may want to keep in the backs of their minds for upcoming shareholders’ meetings. What steps are management taking to mitigate climate risks to operations? As ocean temperatures increase so too will the intensity of the typhoons that pass over us. We average around 20 typhoons that come through our “area of responsibility”, and while some of those barely catch the outer border and only impact fishermen and cause a couple of flights to get re-routed, the ones that veer over land will whip us with wind and soak us with rain and they’re only going to get stronger and more disruptive over time. For banks, it’s maybe as simple as having a strong app (and a back-of-the-house willingness to transact natively online). It’s not so straightforward for mining firms, but that doesn’t mean that nothing can be done.

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