THE MAIN INDEX tumbled on the last trading day of November, failing to sustain early morning gains due to the MSCI rebalancing and dovish comments from the US Federal Reserve chief, accompanied by window dressing.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) hit a high of 7,482.35 intraday on Thursday before falling 0.19% or 14.58 points to close at 7,367.85 — its low for the day.
The broader all-shares index likewise dipped 0.04% or 2.05 points to 4,441.33.
“Philippine shares finished slightly lower, but overall closed the month on another strong rally on the combination of window dressing, MSCI rebalancing and the comments made by Fed Chairman Powell,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday said that the key benchmark interest rate is “near the neutral rate,” which analysts took to mean that the Fed will stop hiking rates sooner than expected.
Wall Street’s major indices soared following this comment, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 2.5% or 617.70 points to 25,366.43. The S&P 500 index climbed 2.3% or 61.62 points to 2,743.78, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 2.95% or 208.89 points to 7,291.59.
Most Asian markets also rallied following Mr. Powell’s comments.
“A couple weeks ago, the MSCI released the new weighting for its Philippine index, and most fund managers aligned with the portfolio. The biggest change was Metrobank, which saw huge fund flows this week,” Mr. Limlingan added.
Stocks in Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. were the most actively traded yesterday, dropping 1.65% or P1.25 to close at P74.60 each.
Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Piper Chaucer Tan, meanwhile, noted that the PSEi broke its two-month losing streak despite the lower daily performance for Friday.
“The market at last trading seemingly saw investors take profit from the rally this week,” Mr. Tan said via text.
Four sectoral indices moved to negative territory, led by holding firms which fell 0.71% or 51.99 points to 7,230.90. Services slipped 0.68% or 9.63 points to 1,401.55; industrials shed 0.52% or 55.65 points to 10,655.14; while mining and oil declined 0.26% or 22.29 points to 8,487.63.
Meanwhile, the property counter surged 1.67% or 59.47 points to 3,601.14, while financials climbed 0.26% or 4.62 points to 1,758.25.
Turnover swelled to P20.09 billion after some 1.32 billion issues switched hands, versus the previous session’s P7.22 billion.
Advancers outnumbered decliners, 112 to 78, while 52 names were unchanged.
Foreign investors returned to a net selling position after two straight sessions of net purchases. Net foreign outflows reached P680.48 million against Wednesday’s P265.94-million net inflow. — Arra B. Francia

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