Investors trim equities portfolio ahead of MSCI rebalancing

MANILA  -The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) closed in red territory on Monday as investors sold off their positions ahead of the upcoming MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) Index rebalancing.

The PSEi dropped 0.66 percent, or 43.72 points, to end at 6,620.83 while the broader All-Shares index slipped by 0.4 percent, or 14.34 points, to settle at 3,534.03.

“Funds could be unloading shares ahead of the MSCI rebalancing,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.

The rebalancing of MSCI—an index that is closely watched by international investors, especially passive funds that use this as benchmark—is set to take effect by the end of this month.

“There was also a lack of catalyst to drive the market upwards,” said Claire Alviar, Philstocks Financial Inc. assistant manager for research and online engagement.

All the subsectors were down, except for the mining and oil index that rose by 0.08 percent. Financials suffered the steepest decline at 1.11 percent.

About 1.73 billion shares amounting to P7.03 billion were traded. Losers edged winners, 116 to 67, while 47 issuances were unchanged.

The shares of SM Prime Holdings, the most actively traded, fell by 0.15 percent to P34 each.

Active list

This was followed by BDO Unibank Inc., down 0.71 percent to P139; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 2.46 percent to P102.90; Ayala Land Inc., down 2.21 percent to P26.50; Ayala Corp., down 0.29 percent to P692 and SM Investments Corp., down 0.54 percent to P924.

Other active names were Jollibee Foods Corp., down 0.43 percent to P231.60; ACEN Corp. up 0.98 percent to P6.21; AgriNurture Inc., up 1.23 percent to P7.38; and PLDT Inc., down 0.62 percent to P1,285. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad