Philippine stocks plunge nearly 10% on coronavirus fears

The Philippine stock market plunged nearly 10% on Thursday, its worst single-day decline since the global financial crisis in 2008.

Investors sold off stocks amid growing fears of a global recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The benchmark PSEi closed at 5,736.27, its lowest level since December 2012 and equivalent to about 5% of the country's domestic economy.

Trading was halted for 15 minutes due to the circuit breaker being triggered when the index dropped by more than 10%.