Share prices are expected to re-test the 8,000-point mark in anticipation of a favorable April inflation rate as well and the first-quarter GDP (gross domestic product) figures this week.
The Philippine Statistics Authority is set to release the April inflation rate on May 7 and the gross domestic product figures for the first quarter on May 9.
Analysts also expect the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to cut the reserve requirement ratio, with the April inflation likely hovering between 2.7 percent and 3.5 percent and the US Federal Reserve keeping the status quo on US interest rates.
Bangkop Sentral Governor Benjamin Diokno was quoted last week as saying the easing of the monetary was only “a matter of time” after last year’s series of interest-rate increases.
Online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia.com said a rate cut or RRR adjustment might be countered by higher oil prices, the prolonged impact of El Niño on water and farm resources as well as increased power rates.
“Overall equities might take heart if easing is supported,” said the online brokerage firm.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week touched the 8,000-point mark before closing at 7,967.98, up 1.3 percent week-on-week, as investors cheered the upgrade in the country’s credit rating made by S&P.
The broader All Shares added 1 percent to 4,906.06.
Except for the property and holdings firms which posted week-on-week declines, all other sub-indices ended in green, led by industrial which rose 3.8 percent; services, which increased 1.8 percent; financials which advanced 1.8 percent; and holdings firms which gained 0.8 percent.
Foreign investors were net buyers for the week by P595.4 million, while the average daily value traded stood at P7.2 billion from the previous week’s average of P6.7 billion.
Weekly top price gainers were Phinma Energy Corp., which jumped 18.1 percent to P1.70, Universal Robina Corp., which climbed 17.5 percent to P167, and Holcim Philippines Inc., which advanced 16.9 percent to P13.42.
Weekly top price losers, meanwhile, were PXP Energy Corp., which dropped 12.8 percent to P7.78, Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc., which declined 12.5 percent to P10.88, and Lopez Holdings Inc., which fell 9.8 percent to P4.98.
The tech-rich Nasdaq, meanwhile, powered to a fresh record Friday as Wall Street cheered a much better than expected US jobs report for April.
European bourses also advanced following the US report, which set unemployment at a 49-year low.
“No signs of a slowdown here,” said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING.
The US economy added 263,000 net new positions in April, well above the 200,000 forecast by analysts.
Unemployment fell two tenths to 3.6 percent but the decline was in part because the pool of workers shrank and fewer people were looking for jobs, pulling them out of the labor force, the Labor Department reported.
Even with the positive attributes to the April jobs data, the report showed wage inflation was measured, putting little pressure on the US Federal Reserve to boost interest rates, analysts said.
“Neither too hot nor too cold,” said Stephen Innes, head of trading at SPI, calling the US data “another Goldilocks” payroll report. With AFP