The Philippine equity market is expected to remain largely in a sideways movement or within a rangebound level as the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index continues to attempt to go back to the 8,000-point level.
Analysts said market’s movement would continue to be dictated by developments overseas, including the trade negotiations between the United States and China.
Talks between the world’s two largest economies are set to resume in Beijing this week to be followed by another round in the US on the following week.
Meanwhile, online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia.com expects volatility within the four-day trading week this week, or a few days before the senatorial elections.
The market index this week is expected to trade between 7,800 and 7,950.
The first-quarter earnings season will come into play as investors take position on companies that are expected to perform well this year.
The PSEi last week gained 0.4 percent to 7,868.28, while the broader All Shares Index rose 0.4 percent to P4,856.35.
Except for industrial and services, all other sub-indices ended in the green, led by property which climbed 2.7 percent, mining and oil which advanced 0.8 percent, holding firms which added 0.5 percent and financial which rose 0.1 percent.
Foreign investors were net buyers for the week by P3.4 billion, while the average daily value traded stood at P6.7 million from the previous week’s P6.8 billion.
Weekly top price gainers were JG Summit Holdings Inc., which advanced 5.3 percent to P64.60; Aboitiz Power Corp., which climbed 4. percent to P37.40; and LT Group Inc., which gained 3.8 percent to P16.02.
Weekly top price losers were Manila Water Co Inc., which declined 6 percent to P22.50 after the company was slapped with more than P1 billion in penalty by Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System; Globe Telecom which lost 5.3 percent to P1,766; and DMCI Holdings Inc., which fell 5.2 percent to P11.38.
Wall Street stocks rode strong US growth data and solid corporate earnings to another record-setting session on Friday, while the euro skidded to a near two-year low against the dollar amid angst over the European economy.
Oil prices also retreated as US President Donald Trump revived a call for Opec to boost production.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at records for the second time this week as official data estimated US first-quarter growth at 3.2 percent, much above analyst expectations and an improvement on the 2.2 percent growth in the final quarter of 2018.
Adding to investor cheer has been a deluge of first-quarter earnings reports that have generally topped expectations.
While there have been a handful of disappointments, “earnings have gone very well,” said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Service, adding one downside of the improved US data for stocks could be a revival of talk that the Federal Reserve will shift course from its current dovish posture.
The S&P 500 shook off early weakness and finished up 0.5 percent at 2,939.88, an all-time high. With AFP
