SINGAPORE (June 1): Four Singaporean blue-chip stocks lost a combined market capitalisation of S$863 million last Friday amid record volumes after MSCI Inc deleted them from its benchmark for the city state’s largest stocks.

Two of the four shares excluded from the MSCI Singapore Index — Singapore Press Holdings Ltd and Sembcorp Industries Ltd — became oversold on a technical indicator last Friday, while ComfortDelGro Corp and SATS Ltd traded close to that territory, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Stock price declines in the companies excluded by MSCI were exacerbated as those firms faced a “direct hit from the pandemic”, Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners, an investment and advisory group that specialises in special situations.

MSCI announced the additions and deletions from its global standard indexes under its semi-annual index review on May 12. All changes would take place as of the close of last Friday, it said in a statement.

Shares in Singapore Press slumped to their lowest closing level since 1992 last Friday, while those in Sembcorp Industries fell to their lowest since 2004 and ComfortDelGro ended at a five-week low.

Mapletree Logistics Trust, the sole addition to the MSCI’s benchmark, rose 0.5% today after closing at a record high in the previous trading session.

Singapore Press rose 1.6% today morning, while ComfortDelGro was up by a similar magnitude as it traded without the right to a dividend. SATS shares were little changed, while Sembcorp Industries rose 3.7%. DBS Bank Ltd upgraded Sembcorp Industries and ComfortDelGroto to "buy" from "hold" today.