The local stock market dropped as investors worry again about the spread of the Omicron variant locally and overseas while assessing the damage wrought by Typhoon Odette.
The main index lost 60.05 points or 0.82 percent to close at 7,237.61 as the Mining and Oil counter led the retreat although the Financials sector managed to advance. Volume was thin with 1.09 billion shares worth P6.7 billion shares changing hands as losers beat gainers 112 to 57 with 51 unchanged.

“Philippine shares fell as investors continued to digest the Fed's (US Federal Reserve) recent announcement to taper aggressively going into 2022 and monitor the spread of the Omicron variant globally,” said Regina Capital Development Corporation Managing Director Luis Limlingan.
He added that, “Back home, the full impact of typhoon Odette is still under assessment. Economists expect the impact to cause a dent in the country's fourth quarter gross domestic product.”
AB Capital Securities said “The Philippine market dropped anew as fears over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant weighed on global indices. Locally, the Department of Health also reported one additional case of Omicron, a returning OFW from Egypt.”
For Philstocks Financial Senior Supervisor for Research Japhet Tantiangco, “The local bourse joined its regional peers in the decline as worries over the Omicron variant disrupting the global economic recovery weighed on sentiment.”
This comes amid the spread of the said variant in Europe raising worries that more restrictions will be imposed in the region. The Netherlands has already gone into a lockdown due to their COVID-19 situation.