The local stock barometer started the week on a sluggish note as fund managers aligned their portfolios with the latest MSCI rebalancing that will take effect at the end of this week.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 34.36 points, or 0.55 percent, to close on Monday at 6,164.89, while regional markets traded with mixed sentiment.
The recent MSCI rebalancing, which will take effect at the close of trade on May 27, is expected to result in net foreign outflows from global funds tracking the indices.
Investors are likewise looking for clues on US interest rate policy.
“Philippine shares kicked off Monday on a weak note on concerns about the Federal Reserve Policy in the face of rising inflation pressures. In particular, sentiment was pulled down as the US market has long traded at a premium to global peers but the trend has been reinforced by the steady transformation of the index toward technology-orientated companies that are growing quickly and are very profitable,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.
“The market expects the rotation trades to continue to play out with the vaccine rollouts and reopening of the economy,” he added.
All counters ended lower, led by the property counter, which fell by 1.68 percent. All other counters slipped by less than 1 percent.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P4.48 billion. There was net foreign selling worth P667.86 million.
There were 127 decliners that overwhelmed 79 advancers, while 40 stocks were unchanged.
The PSEi was weighed down most by Megaworld, which slumped by 5.59 percent, while Aboitiz Power slid by 2.95 percent.