PSEi bounces back

Local stocks bounced back Monday as investors looked for bright spots after Great Britain’s decision to exit the European Union—commonly referred to as Brexit—caused a global stock market selldown last Friday.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 86.18 points or 1.13 percent to close at 7,715.90, tracking the rebound across regional markets.

“There was a shock on Friday, now they bounced a little, but it’s not the end of the volatility. There’s a lot of uncertainty to factor in,” said Herald van Linde, head of Asia-Pacific equity strategy at HSBC.

After the UK referendum delivered a surprise decision to leave the EU, HSBC on Friday shifted to a “more defensive” global investment allocation strategy.  “We anticipate increased geopolitical uncertainties in the UK and the eurozone to linger at least in the near term. If there are protracted uncertainties regarding the future outlook of the eurozone integration and whether there would be broader Brexit contagion risks, this could drive asset price in the eurozone further down,” said HSBC head of investment strategy for Asia, Cheuk Wan Fan.  Doris Dumlao-Abadilla