Trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange is expected to remain volatile this week, but analysts said a rebound is possible depending on the next policy move by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Analysts said the upcoming Monetary Board meeting, where the Bangko Sentral was expected to again raise benchmark interest rates, would take center stage this week.
The market expects another 50-basis-point rate adjustment this week, after the recent typhoon destroyed crops in Luzon which could contribute to inflationary pressures.
Papa Securities trader Gio Perez said investors would remain cautious ahead of the Monetary Board meeting Thursday.
BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the market could be ripe for a technical rebound, after several weeks of decline.
“Despite the sharp drop these past weeks, the market is quite over sold and may be ripe for a technical rebound to retry the 7,500/7,800 levels,” Ravelas said.
The PSE index, the 30-company benchmark, fell 0.4 percent over last week’s five-day market trading to close at 7,383.00 on Sept. 21, on volatile trading that saw the index breaching the bear market.
Investors were concerned that inflation could rise further following the impact of Typhoon Ompong.
The bellwether plunged to a two-month low of 7,134.73 Thursday before recovering Friday.
The broader all-share index also fell 1.1 percent to settle at 4,507.40.
The major sub-indices ended mixed, with industrial and property posting week-on-week gains and financials, holding firms, services and mining and oil closing lower.
Foreign investors were net sellers by P1.7 billion last week, while average daily turnover reached P6.44 billion.
Top gainers last week were Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. which jumped 15.1 percent to P38, Universal Robina Corp. which advanced 6.8 percent to P151 and JG Summit Holdings Inc. which climbed 3.8 percent to P54.
Heavy losers included Asiabest Group International Inc. which dipped 29.3 percent to P20.05, Robinsons Land Corp. which retreated 10.1 percent to P18.78 and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. which fell 10.1 percent to P24.85.