The local stock barometer rallied to the 7,500 level Wednesday, outperforming regional markets, due to portfolio adjustments related to the latest MSCI rebalancing.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 99.19 points or 1.34 percent to close at 7,500.79.
The latest rebalancing of MSCI indices, which are closely tracked by many fund managers, had taken effect after the end of Tuesday’s trade.
Joseph Roxas, president of local stockbrokerage Eagle Equities Inc., said that after the drastic movements seen on Tuesday ahead of the effectivity of the MSCI rebalancing, there were some corrections Wednesday.
For instance, he noted that after Emperador’s steep decline on Tuesday, the beverage maker rebounded by more than 4 percent Wednesday. Security Bank, which was included in the MSCI Philippines index (but not yet part of the PSEi), advanced on Tuesday but pulled back by 1.38 percent Wednesday.
ICTSI, SMIC and Meralco also led the PSEi higher, all rising more than 3 percent. PLDT, ALI and BDO all advanced by more than 2 percent. SM Prime, Globe and GTCAP all rose. JG Summit, MPIC and AP also contributed to the day’s gains.
On the other hand, Megaworld declined by 2.22 percent while AEV fell by 1.46 percent. AC, Metrobank and Jollibee also faltered. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla