By JAMES A.LOYOLA The local stock market plunged once it resumed trading after a two-day break as investors focus on the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. “For the third time in the last four days, the circuit breaker rule was triggered. And today was the worst -- happening right off-the-bat, kicking-off trades at 4,673.58, -12.4 percent lower and past the 10 percent-circuit breaker threshold,” said Philstock Financial Vice President for Research Justino Calaycay. He added that, “Past the 15-minute hold, prices continued downhill, hitting an intra-day low at 4,039.15 (-24.3 percent), unarguably the worst start for any given trading day in memory.” The main index ended the day with a 711.95 point or 13.34 percent plunge at 4,623.42 with all sectors in the red. The Philippine Stock Exchange said the local market has lost 3,191.84 points or 40.84 percent since the start of the year. “With the market’s trading multiple dropping to less than 10 times at the trough, investors took that as a cue to go on controlled bargain hunting. By the close, the market was able to recover nearly half of the losses,” said Calaycay. Total volume amounted to 1.25 billion shares worth P9.42 billion as 211 stocks fell with only 8 managing to gain and 21 unchanged. AAA Equities Head of Research Chris Mangun said “We saw a spike in trading volumes today with turnover value at P9.06 billion excluding block sales. This can be attributed to the PSE being closed for the last two days because of the lockdown. We saw massive foreign outflows today with net-selling at P2.40 billion.” “Shares plummeted as investors worried about the economic damage from the pandemic,” said Regina Capital Development Corporation Managing Director Luis Limlingan. He noted that, “Oil, which is usually barometer of the health of the global economy dropped 24 percent to a more than 18-year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sap demand for crude, and rising worries about a global recession.” Limlingan added that “The normal safe haven gold was also down 2.8 percent to $1,485.06 per ounce. U.S. gold futures were down 2.4 percent to $1,488.70.” “Global equities markets ended lower today as the world is put on hold because of the covid-19 pandemic. Major cities all over the world are implementing a lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly disease. The spread of the virus in Europe is worse than what we saw in China according to some health workers, spurring a massive sell off in equities across the globe,” said Mangun. He added that, “Here at the PSE the nightmare continues. The main index ended the day lower shattering yet another record for the worst daily loss since the year 2000.” “The general sentiment is still panic as investors remain confused. This selloff will continue until we see some improvement on the containment of the COVID-19 virus on our shores,” Mangun warned.