The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange Index is expected to test the 7,800-point level during this shortened trading week as sentiments have turned slightly bullish.
“With the index failing to push further ahead (Friday), we should continue to watch out for the 7,800 level next week as a breakthrough. This would put 8,000 as our next resistance,’ Papa Securities trader Gio Perez.
“Should foreign selling hinder the PSEi once again however, we look to the 7,500 area as our initial support,” he added.
Analysts said the market would continue to look overseas for catalysts while monitoring local developments.
Investors will be concerned about the trade dispute between the United States and China overseas, while they will be watching the August inflation numbers in the domestic front .
The local financial markets is closed today in observance of National Heroes Day.
The PSEi last week gained 2.4 percent to 7,766.47, while the broader All Shares Index rose 2.6 percent to 4,728.82.
Except for the mining and oil index, which dipped 0.5 percent, all major sub-indices ended in the green, led by property (+3.53 percent), industrial (+2.64 percent), services (+2.26 percent) ¡and holding firms (+1.87 percent).
Foreign investors were net sellers for the week by P492 million, while the average daily valued traded reached P6.7 billion from the previous week’s average of P5.3 billion.
Weekly top price gainers were San Miguel Food and Beverage, which rose 18.6 percent to P96; San Miguel Corp., which advanced 16.5 percent to P171.80; and Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc., which climbed 16.4 percent to P300.80.
SMFB plans to raise as much as P142.8 billion from the sale of up 1.02 billion secondary shares in a bid to widen its public float to nearly 20 percent.
Weekly top price losers, meanwhile, were Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp., which declined 12.7 percent to P34.90; Manila Water Co. Inc., which dropped 4.1 percent to P24.15; and Roxas Holdings Inc., which dipped 3.7 percent to P3.08.
Wall Street stocks, meanwhile, pushed to fresh records Friday, while the dollar sagged as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there was no sign of an overheating economy and policymakers expected to continue gradual interest rate increases.
Speaking at the annual gathering of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell said the US economy remained strong and anyone who wanted a job could find one.
He said prices were rising at about the Fed’s target pace of two percent, signaling the US central bank does not expect to accelerate interest rate increases as some investors have feared.
“We have seen no clear sign of an acceleration above two percent and there does not seem to be an elevated risk of overheating,” Powell said in prepared remarks.
All three major US indices pushed higher, with the S&P 500 notching its first closing record since January and the Nasdaq jumping 0.9 percent to 7,945.98, smashing past a record set last month.
