PSEi closes 0.51% down

Two of the country’s largest conglomerates on Friday eased lower and dragged down the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index as the latest Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) rebalancing takes effect on Monday.

By the closing bell yesterday, the PSEi was down 0.51 percent or 40.21 points to 7,871.11 as SM Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp. sank. The broader all-shares index was also down 0.22 percent or 10.61 points to 4,772.35.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said the movement was aligned with changes to the FTSE indices, which is closely tracked by investors around the world.

On Friday, the holding firms (up 0.28 percent) and services (up 0.2 percent) sub sectors closed in positive territory. All the rest declined, led by property, down by 1.82 percent, and financials, down by 0.75 percent.

A total of 2.69 billion shares valued at P10.17 billion changed hands yesterday. Advancers almost matched decliners 91 to 94 while 62 companies closed unchanged.

Retail, property and banking conglomerate SM Investments was the most actively traded on Friday. It dropped 0.5 percent to P1,000 per share.

It was followed by Ayala Corp., down 0.56 percent to P895; BDO Unibank, up 0.14 percent to P140.40; Ayala Land Inc., down 2.24 percent to P47.90, and SM Prime Holdings, down 1.97 percent to P34.75 per share.

Other actively traded companies were Pilipinas Shell Petroleum, down 2.64 percent to P33.15; JG Summit Holdings, up 3.86 percent to P75.30; Universal Robina Corp., down 0.35 percent to P169; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 2.25 percent to P91.10, and PLDT Inc., down 1.04 percent to P1,147 per share.