MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market recorded a steep drop amid strong selling pressure among investors following a rebalancing of the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE).
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index plummeted by 1.72 percent or 102.73 points to end the week at 5,855.91.
The broader All Shares index also fell by 1.21 percent or 40.31 points, finishing at 3,277.80.
Franco Fernandez, equity research analyst at DragonFi Securities Inc., said the index saw heavy flows driven by the FTSE rebalancing.
“This is likely also why selling pressure persisted as institutions adjusted their portfolios amid subdued risk appetite stemming from unresolved macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns,” Fernandez said.
AB Capital Securities said the PSEi broke 5,900 and closed near the low, lagging firmer Asian markets.
“Turnover surged from P5.1 billion pre-close to P15.1 billion, with MOC (market-on-close) accounting for about 66 percent amid FTSE rebalancing (Bloomberry out, Emperador into Small Cap),” it said.
RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort said the PSEi declined on concerns that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas could match the latest 25-basis-point hike delivered by the US Federal Reserve.
All sectors were in the red, except for mining and oil, which rose by 1.65 percent.
Services and holding firms were the biggest losers, declining by 2.53 percent and 2.45 percent, respectively.
Market breadth remained negative as decliners outnumbered advancers, 117 to 79, while 43 issues did not change hands.
ICTSI was the session’s top traded stock, sliding by 3.21 percent to P905 per share, followed by Emperador and SM Investments which slipped by 0.51 percent and 5.98 percent, respectively, to P15.72 and P503.