Trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange is expected to remain volatile this week, as investors watch the new policies of US President Donald Trump and weigh the impact of the Environment Department’s closure and suspension orders against 28 mining companies.
Analysts said investors would likely focus on political developments overseas, particularly on how Trump would address US economic growth through his fiscal expenditure program and other matters that could affect trade and fund flows.
“Political headlines are likely to drive events this week, especially sequel pronouncements from US President Trump,” 2TradeAsia.com said.
Analysts said on the domestic front, investors would monitor developments in the mining sector as the closure and suspension orders against mining companies were expected to have a significant impact on employment numbers and foreign direct investments.
Trading is expected within a range of 7,000 to 7,400 points this week, analysts said.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, dropped 1.5 percent last week to close at 7,226.70 on Feb. 3, while the broader all-share index went down 0.9 percent to 4,375.03.
All major sub-indices ended in the red, led by mining and oil index which plunged 2.3 percent after the Environment Department issued closure and suspension orders against a number of mining firms.
Holdings firms also dipped 2.2 percent while services and property went down 1.7 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Foreign investors were net sellers last week by P674 million, while average daily turnover declined to P5.2 billion from the previous week’s average of P6.2 billion.
Top gainers last week were Philippine Realty and Holdings Corp. which surged 65 percent to P0.66, Arthaland Corp. which jumped 45.6 percent to P1.15 and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. which advanced 14 percent to P6.83.
Heavy losers were mostly mining firms that were affected by the closure and suspension orders by the Environment Department.
Marcventures Holdings Inc. and Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. requested for voluntary trading halt on their shares last week as they sought additional information about the orders issued by the Environment Department.
Global Ferronickel said the Environment Department had “not issued any show-cause notice let alone adverse finding against PGMC [unit Platinum Group Metals Corp.] to warrant the imposition of even the lightest of penalty such as reprimand.”