The stock barometer slid for the second straight session on Thursday on the eve of the next MSCI rebalancing, the outcome of which is seen to influence passive investment fund flows in the near term.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 44.03 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 7,331.65, weighed down by a new bout of foreign selling.
Investors also continued to digest the latest stream of third quarter corporate earnings reports.
Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said local stocks tracked the offshore sell-off induced by the hotter-than-expected October consumer price index reported in both China and the United States.
“Investors are also awaiting the latest results for the MSCI rebalancing, which is supposed to be released (Thursday night) in the United States. Other recent earnings releases influenced the repositioning of funds among portfolio managers as well, such as with MPIC, Megaworld, SM Investments, Monde Nissin, while other big names are still scheduled for release,” he said.
All counters faltered, led by the property subindex, which lost 1.35 percent.
The financial, industrial, holding firm and mining/oil counters all slipped.
The services counter marginally gained.
Value turnover amounted to P7.25 billion. There was P755.6 million worth of net foreign outflows from the stock market for the day.
Decliners outnumbered advancers, 97 to 91, while 47 stocks were unchanged.
JG Summit lost 3.2 percent, while URC and Ayala Land both fell by over 2 percent.
Metrobank and GT Capital both shed over 1 percent, while Ayala Corp., SM Prime, ICTSI, Jollibee, BPI and Globe Telecom all slipped by less than 1 percent.
Notable decliners outside the PSEi included Monde Nissin, which lost 1.66 percent.
On the other hand, Converge gained 3.24 percent, while AC Energy rose by 1.15 percent.
Newly listed Synergy was the day’s most actively traded company. Its share price advanced by 4.76 percent.