There is a simple explanation. It was the effective date of the rebalancing for the MSCI Global indices tracked by institutional investors and portfolio managers. This takes place four times a year. After May 31, the next two will be on Sept 2 and Nov 25, with announcements of impending changes made two to three weeks earlier.
Market commentaries in our mainstream press noted the “unusually high” trading volume of 2.8 billion shares worth some $4.4 billion on May 31. This was almost four times the daily average recorded in the first half of 2024.
No reason was provided to explain this anomaly. Perhaps, the higher turnover in the newsrooms amid waning interest in the local stock market has deprived the industry of local market and company reporters, as many cynical local pundits pointed out.
