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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Market likely to stay above 8,000

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Share prices are expected to continue to move above the 8,000-point level this week as the market tries to build a strong base before attempting the 8,150 level.

Analysts said continued foreign buying was boosting market sentiments after the index touched an intra-week high of 8,116.23 last week.

A tamer inflation rate for the month of January could also boost the market and will support the status quo on interest rates.

“Continue to watch out for the 8,100-8,200 area as it proved to be too tough to beat. Support for the index should it move downwards is in the 7,750 area,” said Papa Securities trader Gio Perez.

The upcoming week-long Chinese Lunar New Year could affect the trading volume but it could provide the market the much-needed technical pause. 

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The market started the year at 7,489 points and has since gone up by 7.9 percent.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week ended flat at 8,053.20 on mixed trading.

The index started the week on a weak note ahead of the lower-than-expected gross domestic product data for 2018. However, the market started to turn positive in the latter part of the week despite new uncertainties in the US-China trade negotiations.

Three sectoral indices moved to positive territory, led by services which jumped 1.34 percent, industrial which rose 1.1 percent and financials which advanced 0.5 percent.

In contrast, mining and oil declined 4.1 percent, while the holding firms and property sector fell 0.9 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

Foreign investors were net buyers for the week by P3.05 billion, while the average daily value stood at P6.8 billion, down from the previous week’s P11.2 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were ABS-CBN Corp., which rose 10.9 percent to P24.95; San Miguel Corp., which climbed 8.4 percent to P168.50; and PLDT Inc which gained 6.5 percent to P1,328.

Weekly top price losers were Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., which declined 8.2 percent to P62.30; Philex Mining Corp., which dropped 6.5 percent to P3.90; and Nickel Asia Corp., which dipped 4.5 percent to P2.52.

Meanwhile, world stocks rose Friday, ending a shaky week on a positive note as investors looked ahead to crucial trade talks this week between China and the United States, and responded to solid corporate earnings reports.

US President Donald Trump announced he had agreed to re-open the federal government after public services started to buckle—but markets appeared little moved.

European and US equities barreled higher after a strong performance in Asian equity markets.

Karl Haeling of LBBW told AFP Wall Street was most receptive to positive news.

“The market still trades with this bias to react more to positive news than negative news,” he said.

He also noted that in the late afternoon markets largely expected Trump to blink first in the battle of wills over the government shutdown.

“Once we got confirmation, it gave the market no support at all.” With AFP

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