Stocks likely to move sideways this week

Share prices at the Philippine Stock Exchange are expected to move sideways at the start of the trading week in 2022, as Metro Manila was placed under more stringent quarantine measures following the surge in new COVID-19 cases.

Metro Manila was declared under Alert Level 3 from Jan. 3 to 15 after the Department of Health confirmed the first local Omicron variant transmission.

Analysts said investors could again turn cautious as the continued rise in COVID-19 cases icould hurt the recovery of the domestic economy.

Philippine Stock Exchange president and chief executive Ramon Monzon said he is hopeful that domestic retail investors would remain active this year as more companies are expected to tap the equities market for their funding requirements.

Monzon said he was also anticipating the gradual return of foreign investors in the local stock market.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, closed lower by 0.82 percent last week to end the year at 7,122, while the broader all-share index dropped 0.11 percent to 3,816.12.

The holding firms sub-index went down 2.38 percent, while the five other sectoral indices ended in green led by mining and oil which rose by 4.1 percent; property by 0.87 percent; services by 0.34 percent; industrial by 0.18 percent; and financials by 0.16 percent.

Foreign investors turned into net buyers last week week by P704 million, even as the average daily turnover was thin at P4.8 billion.

Top gainers last week were Apex Mining Co. Inc. which climbed by 16.7 percent to P1.61; Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp., which jumped 11.3 percent to P1.28; and Philex Mining Corp., which advanced 11.2 percent to P5.45.

Meanwhile, heavy losers included GT Capital Holdings Inc., which declined by 5.3 percent to P540; Ayala Corp., which went down by 4.6 percent to P831; and Aboitiz Power Corp., which dropped 3.8 percent to P29.70.

Global stock markets also closed lower Friday, the final trading session of 2021―a year of strong gains overall as economies recovered despite ongoing restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wall Street, the broad-based S&P 500 had its best December in over a decade, and scored a third straight year of double-digit gains with a 27.1-percent jump.

The index notched records 70 times this year, “second only to 1954,” said analyst Sam Stovall. “2021 was a very good year.”

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average won 18.7 percent, while high-flying tech stocks pushed the Nasdaq up 21.4 percent.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.3 percent in a shortened trading session ahead of the New Year, posting an increase of 14 percent for the year.

The Paris CAC 40 index rocketed almost 29 percent this year, its best showing for more than 20 years.

Germany’s DAX had ended its year Thursday, having surged nearly 16 percent in 2021.

While markets soared in 2021, they seesawed in recent months as investors worried about resurging inflation, the prospect of an end to central bank largesse and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. With AFP