Share prices are expected to extend their slide this week after the index plunged below the 7,800-point resistance level Friday on heavy selling.
BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the market’s close at 7,641.77 signaled further weakness toward 7,500 after the market just dropped below the 7,800 level.
“Look to see if 7,500 support levels hold and a bounce occurs,” Ravelas said.
The expected lower inflation rate in February, however, could provide a boost to the market as it signifies the economy’s stability and growth.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last week said it expects the February inflation to hover between 3.7 and 4.5 percent from 4.4 percent in January. The government is scheduled to announce the official February inflation data on March 5.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp., PLDT Inc, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., DMCI Holdings Inc. and International Container Terminal Services Inc., meanwhile, are scheduled to announce their 2018 financial performance.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week plunged 4 percent to 7,641.77, while the broader All Shares Index fell 3.2 percent to 4,729.93, as foreign fund re-adjusted their portfolio in the face of the MSCI rebalancing of stocks.
All major counters ended in red, led by holding firms which dropped 4.1 percent, financials which declined 4.1percent, and services, which lost 3.8 percent. The property index fell 3 percent while services and mining both dipped 2.9 percent.
Foreign investors, however, were net buyers by P3.04 billion, boosted by a block sale related to Japan’s ANA Holdings’ acquisition of 1.1 billion PAL Holdings shares.
The average daily value traded stood at P11.1 billion from the previous week’s average of P8.4 billion.
Weekly top price gainers were EEI Corp., which rose 8 percent to P8.75, Megawide Construction Corp., which climbed 3.1 percent to P19.48 and First Gen Corp., which added 1.7 percent to P21.30.
Weekly top price losers were DMCI Holdings Inc., which declined 8.9 percent to P11.18, PLDT Inc. which fell 7.4 percent to P1,030, and GT Capital Holdings Inc. which lost 7.2 percent to P930.
Global stock markets, meanwhile, rose Friday as investors reacted to a mixed batch of global economic data and appeared confident the US-China trade talks would yield a positive outcome.
Asian markets pushed higher, a trend later repeated in Europe and New York.
All three major US indices finished solidly higher, although the Dow finished with a slight loss for the week, ending a nine-week winning streak.
“The first day of the new month has started positively for equities,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com.
“Sentiment improved on the back of positive US-China trade talks and as major central banks have reiterated the need for interest rates to remain low for longer,” he said.
A better-than-expected reading on US economic growth lifted sentiment earlier in Asia while optimistic comments from a top White House economic advisor on the China-US trade talks also provided support. With AFP
