How to Use the PSE Board Lot Table

How much do you need to start trading stocks in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)?

How many shares of Globe Telecom (GLO), Ayala REIT Inc. (AREIT), DITO CME Holdings (DITO), or Megaworld (MEG) can you buy or sell at any given time?

You probably don’t know it, but these questions can be answered by using the PSE Board Lot Table.

How to use the PSE Stock Board Lot Table

Check out other articles about stock trading below:

Article Guide

What is the PSE Board Lot Table?

The Board Lot table of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is a guide for investors showing the:

Minimum number of shares that can be bought or sold at any given time; and
Minimum price increments for each stock traded in the PSE.

Here’s what the PSE Board Lot Table looks like.

	Stock Price	Fluctuations in Price (Tick Size)	Board Lot (Minimum No. of Shares)
A	P0.0001 - 0.0099	P0.0001	1,000,000
B	P0.0100 - 0.0490	P0.0010	100,000
C	P0.0500 - 0.2490	P0.0010	10,000
D	P0.2500 - 0.4950	P0.0050	10,000
E	P0.50 - 4.99	P0.010	1,000
F	P5.00 - 9.99	P0.010	100
G	P10.00 - 19.98	P0.02	100
H	P20.00 - 49.95	P0.05	100
I	P50.00 - 99.95	P0.05	10
J	P100.00 - 199.00	P0.10	10
K	P200.00 - 499.80	P0.20	10
L	P500.00 - 999.50	P0.50	10
M	P1,000.00 - 1,999.00	P1.00	5
N	P2,000.00 - 4,998.00	P2.00	5
O	P5,000.00 - above	P5.00	5

How to Read the PSE Board Lot Table

1. The Stock Price Column

The “Stock Price” column shows the range of prices of a PSE stock and, depending on its current price, the corresponding row will show the allowed fluctuations in price (called the “tick size”) and the minimum number of shares that can be sold or bought (called the “board lot”).

So for a stock trading at, say, P3.00 per share, the important row to look at is Row E (P0.50 – P4.99).

2. The Fluctuations in Price (Tick Size) Column

The “Fluctuations in Price” or “Tick Size” column shows the allowed fluctuation or price change of a given stock.

For example, if the allowed fluctuation in stock price is P5.00 — same as in the final Row O — the stock price can only move by increments of P5.00.

Therefore, a stock trading at P5,100.00 can become P5,105.00 or even P5,345.00 or P4,855.0 — because all these figures are divisible by P5.00.

But the stock cannot trade at P5,103.00 or P5,501.25 or P6,557.00 because these numbers are NOT divisible by the required tick size of P5.00.

3. The Board Lot (Lot Size) Column

Finally, the “Board Lot” or “Lot Size” represents the minimum number of shares that can be traded in the PSE depending on a stock’s current price.

If for example, the required board lot is 1,000 (as in Row E) you can buy or sell stocks as long as the traded amount of shares is divisible by 1,000. This means you can buy 2,000 shares or 5,000 shares or even 30,000 shares.

We’ll see a clearer application of the Board Lot table in our practical examples below.

The “Odd Lot” Market

For now, just take note that the Board Lot Table only covers “Normal Lot” trades in the PSE. The “Normal Lot” is still slightly different from the “Odd Lot” market.

An odd lot refers to the number of shares of stocks that is less than the standard trading unit (or standard board lot) identified in the Board Lot Table.

Pop quiz! What’s the standard board lot for a stock trading at P2.00 per share?

This falls under Row E in the Board Lot Table, which tells us that the minimum lot size is 1,000. Any quantity of shares to be traded that is not a multiple of 1,000 is considered an odd lot.

As you can see in the sample order in the OddLot Market below, both the Bid Volume (Bid Vol) and Ask Volume (Ask Vol) in the odd lot are in quantities not divisible by 1,000.

Don’t worry because in most cases, you’ll just be trading “normally” so for now you’ll only need to understand the “Normal Lot” version of the PSE Board Lot table.

3 Uses of the PSE Board Lot Table

The PSE Board Lot Table can be used to determine three things:

(1) the minimum number of shares that can be traded for each stock;

(2) the minimum price fluctuation or increment applicable to each stock; and

(3) the minimum amount of money needed to buy any PSE-traded stock.

Let’s look at three examples showing how we can use the PSE Board Lot table to determine these things.

1. Minimum number of stocks to buy (or sell) in the PSE

To know the minimum number of shares that can be bought or sold, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Get the current price of the stock. Let’s say you want to know the minimum number of shares of Globe Telecom (GLO) that you can buy or sell. Check the PSE website or your broker’s website to get GLO’s current price. Let’s assume GLO is currently trading at P2,200.00.

Step 2: Check the row in the PSE Board Lot table corresponding to this stock price. GLO’s stock price of P2,200.00 corresponds to “Row N”. This is because the price falls within the range P2,000.00 to P4,998.00.

Step 3: In this row, check the corresponding Board Lot (Lot Size) column. The lot size represents the minimum number of shares that can be traded for any stock.

In the case of GLO, the lot size is 5 — meaning, a minimum of five (5) shares of GLO can be bought or sold at any time.

Can you sell 50 shares? Yes!

Remember, the Lot Size identified in the Board Lot Table is just minimum. The number of shares traded can be higher than five (5) as long as the number of shares being traded is divisible by 5.

Can you sell two (2) shares of GLO? No. (But take note, this can be traded in the Odd Lot market.)

How about buying 115 shares of GLO? Yes, that’s allowed because 115 is divisible by 5.

Easy, right? Let’s move on to the next application of the Board Lot table.

2. Allowed stock price changes in the PSE

Let’s say you previously bought shares of SM Prime Holdings (SMPH) and now you want to sell them to lock in the profit. The stock currently trades at P36.15 per share. Can you sell your shares at P36.48? How about at P37.25?

To determine the allowed price increment or price change for any give PSE-traded stock, use the Board Lot Table and check the Fluctuations in Price or Tick Size column. Follow the step-by-step guide below if you need more details.

Step 1: Get the current price of the stock. Just like in Example 1 above, you can check the PSE website or your broker’s website to get the current price of your stock. In the case of SMPH, let’s assume its current stock price is P36.15.

Step 2: Check the row in the PSE Board Lot table corresponding to this stock price. If SMPH’s stock price is P36.15, which row in the Board Lot Table corresponds to this price?

If you answered “Row H”, you are correct. SMPH’s stock price is within the price range of that row (P20.00 to P49.95), so we will use this row in Step 3.

Step 3: Determine the Minimum Price Fluctuations (Tick Size) for that stock. The “Tick Size” column represents the minimum price change or price increment allowed for any given stock.

“Row H” tells us that the required tick size is PHP 0.05. This means the allowed prices to buy or sell SMPH shares must be in increments of or multiples of 0.05.

So, going back to the question earlier: can you sell SMPH at a price of P36.48? Since it’s not divisible by 0.05, this is not allowed.

Can you sell it at P37.25? Yes! Since this price is divisible by 0.05.

But take note, whether the sale will be a done trade of course depends on the presence of buyers willing to purchase SMPH shares at your asking price.

As you can see, knowing the Board Lot Table is especially useful if you are making a Limit Order, wherein you’ll manually input your own preferred bid (buying) or ask (selling) price of a stock.

3. How much money needed to invest in the PSE

So how much money do you need to buy stocks in the PSE?

Actually, there is no fixed minimum amount of money needed to begin investing in the PSE. Why? Because the minimum amount will depend on the price of the stock that you wish to buy.

Let’s see an example below.

Let’s say we want to know how much we’ll shell out to make our very first trade: buy the minimum number of shares of Megaworld Corp. (MEG). Follow the step-by-step guide below to find out exactly how much we’ll pay to purchase this stock.

Step 1: Get the current price of the stock. Again, simply check the PSE website or your broker’s website to get the current price of your stock. In the case of MEG, let’s say its current price is P3.35.

Step 2: Determine the lot size in the PSE Board Lot table. To do this, refer back to the step-by-step process explained in Example 1 above.

MEG falls under which row in the Board Lot Table above? Checking MEG in the Board Lot Table, we see that its minimum lot size is 1,000 shares in “Row E”. We’ll use this in the next step.

Step 3: Multiply the current price by the minimum lot size. Multiplying the current price with the stock’s minimum lot size gives us the minimum amount of cash we need to buy the stock.

In the case of MEG, this is P3.35 current price multiplied by 1,000 minimum shares = P3,350. This means you need P3,350 to start buying the allowed minimum number of MEG shares.

See, a very useful application of the PSE Board Lot table is determining the minimum amount of money needed for you to begin trading stocks.

Wait, there’s more!

Take note that stockbrokers such as COL Financial, BPI Trade, PhilStocks, First Metro Securities, etc. charge trading fees and commissions so this amount will surely increase.

Read our article on PSE Stock Trading Fees and Charges (with Sample Computations) to find out what these fees and charges are. The article also helps you compute the actual amount of money you need to buy stocks in the PSE (and exact amount of cash proceeds you’ll receive when selling stocks.)

Congratulations! Now you know how to use the PSE Board Lot table. Happy smart investing!