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Friday, March 29, 2024

PSEi poised to trade below 6,000

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The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange Index is expected continue to trade below the 6,000-point level on renewed concerns over the pandemic’s growing impact on the economy.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the daily record surge in coronavirus cases in the past few days could further delay the full reopening of the economy.

Local medical professionals as well as some lawmakers are asking the government to revert the status of Metro Manila to enhanced community quarantine to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The government is set to report the county’s second-quarter economic performance on August 6. From 0.2 percent contraction in the first quarter of the year, the Philippine gross domestic product is expected to further drop in the second quarter of the year with the closure of most businesses during the ECQ.

Meanwhile, the release of second-quarter earnings results of listed companies could affect market trading this week as companies, with many of them assessing their outlook on the second half of the year.

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Among the companies scheduled to report their second quarter performances are Metro Pacific Investments Corp., San Miguel Corp., Ayala Land Inc., PLDT Inc. and International Container Terminal Services Inc.

The PSEi last week declined 1.2 percent to 5,928.45 while the broad All Shares Index fell by 0.9 percent to 3,500.27.

Foreign investors were net sellers during the week by P2.08 billion, while the average daily value traded stood at P4.22 billion.

The PSEi has dropped 24.1 percent since the start of the year. Net foreign selling reached P75.1 billion year-to-date

Top price gainers include First Gen Corp., which rose 13 percent to P26.95; AC Energy Philippines Inc., which advanced 10.9 percent to P2.55; and Semrara Mining Corp., which climbed 5.5 percent to P9.95.

Weekly top price losers were Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., which declined 12.1 percent to P3.12; Filinvest Land Inc., which dropped 8.4 percent to P0.87; and BDO Unibank Inc., which dipped 5.4 percent to P88.

Meanwhile, European stocks fell Friday following dismal economic data that chronicled the hit from coronavirus shutdowns, while Wall Street indices gained following blowout earnings from tech giants.

A day after the US reported an historically bad plunge in second-quarter growth, European authorities released the tally for the bloc and for individual countries.  

“It was a grim day at the office for the global economy…  as the extent of the COVID-19 damage was laid bare,” said PVM analyst Stephen Brennock.

France’s economy contracted by a record 13.8 percent in the second quarter, Spain slumped 18.5 percent, Portugal contracted 14.1 percent and Italy shrank 12.4 percent.

Europe as a whole was hammered by its sharpest recorded contraction in the second quarter, with GDP down 12.1 percent in the eurozone and 11.9 percent across the full EU.

The official Eurostat agency said that, with much of the economy paralyzed by coronavirus lockdowns, the fall was “by far” the largest since it began recording the figure in 1995. With AFP

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