Stocks are expected to move sideways this week, as investors may continue to stay on the sidelines ahead of the May 9 national elections.
F. Yap Securities investment analyst Jason Escartin said investors would closely watch whether the voting process would be held peacefully, given its direct impact on political risk premium weighting.
“Expect volatile trades to prevail, with foreign funds likely to remain at bay,” Escartin said.
Analysts said investor sentiments would also be influenced by the release of first-quarter earnings report of listed companies and the April inflation rate.
“A number of blue-chip names are set to release their 1Q earnings results. Their announcements could steer the market’s direction… or it may not. After all, next week is the final week before the presidential elections on May 9 and skittish investors could prefer to take some money off the table,” RCBC Securities analyst Ralph Christian Bodollo said.
BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said if the market broke below the 7,150-point level, the next support level would be between 6,900 and 7,000 levels.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 1.2 percent over last week’s five-day market trading to close at 7,159.29 Friday, on election-related jitters, while the broader all-share index dropped 1.9 percent to 4,245.89.
Among the sub-indices, industrial and mining and oil gained 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively while services and financials lost 3 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
Foreign investors were net buyers last week by P2.2 billion, as total foreign buying reached P21.7 billion while overseas selling amounted to P2.1 billion.
The PSEi was still up 3 percent since the start of the year, despite last week’s decline.
Top gainers last week were consumer-related stocks including Universal Robina, which jumped 3 percent to P20.840 and Jollibee Foods Corp., which climbed 2.8 percent to P229.60.
Heavy losers included Alliance Global Group Inc., which dropped 11.9 percent to P14.50, San Miguel Corp. which fell 9.5 percent to P67 and Megaworld Corp., which dipped 8.1 percent to P3.77.