Share prices are expected to continue with their sideways trading this week on lack of positive leads that could push the market to stay above the 8,000-point mark.
“It has failed several times within the week to breach 8,100–effectively setting this as a solid resistance that likely won’t be pushed anytime soon. Indicators are maintaining bearishness,” Regina Capital Development Corp. said.
Trading, however, is expected to pick up in the latter part of the week as the government releases report on June inflation rate.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Department of Economic Research has estimated that the June 2019 inflation likely settled within the range of 2.2 percent to 3 percent on lower rice and domestic oil prices, along with downward adjustment in electricity rates and the recent peso appreciation.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week declined 0.7 percent to a shade below the 8,000, as investors wait on the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jin Ping meeting at the sidelines of the of G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan.
Moody’s weak expectations on the country’s second-quarter economic performance also affected investors sentiments.
The six sectoral indices ended mixed, with mining and oil, services and holding firms posting week-on-week gains, while the property, financials and industrial indices registered week-on-week declines.
Foreign investors were net sellers for the week by P7.25 billion, while the average daily value traded stood at P10.3 billion from the previous week’s average of P7.27 billion.
Weekly top price gainers were First Gen Corp., which rose 7.2 percent to P26.80; Nickel Asia Corp., which advanced 7.1 percent to P2.25; and Semirara Mining Corp., which climbed 6.2 percent to P23.15.
Weekly top price losers were San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc., which declined 6.6 percent to P106; Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., which fell 4.5 percent to P71.25; and Union Bank of the Philippines, which dropped 4.3 percent to P61.25.
Meanwhile, European and US stocks climbed on Friday as investors kept a watch on developments at a Group of 20 summit in Japan, where US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are due for a high-stakes discussion on trade.
As heads of the world’s 20 leading economies began their summit in Osaka, Trump said he was hopeful that Saturday’s talks would be “productive.”
Global equities have enjoyed a largely positive couple of weeks on hopes for progress in the head-to-head meeting between the leaders of the world’s top two economies, though the possibility of failure persists.
“Optimism has been limited at best,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at the trading firm IG.
“The fact that the trade conflict has lasted this long sends a message that both sides are not rushing towards a deal, or are prepared to make significant concessions.”
In Europe, both Paris and Frankfurt closed with solid gains, while London edged up 0.3 percent.
On Wall Street, the broad-based S&P 500 finished the session at 2,941.76, up 0.6 percent for the day. The index has risen 17.3 percent so far this year, the best first half of a year since 1997.