Shares prices are expected to trade sideways this week as investors look for catalysts that could boost the benchmark above the 7,400-point level.
Investors may shift their attention to the mounting inflation rate and the upcoming presidential elections where the list of candidates will be firmed up this week, after the earnings season comes to an end and the release of the third quarter gross domestic product figures last week .
“The political climate should heat up dramatically over the next few weeks as the candidate pool gets finalized, so will speculation over regulatory and business risks of the next six years,” online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia.com said.
Meanwhile as mobility restrictions are eased, analysts said “revenge shopping” coupled with early election-related spending could boost the economy in the fourth quarter of the year.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index is expected to trade between 7,200 and 7,300 points this week.
The bellwether PSEI last week inched up 0.6 percent to 7,383.84, boosted by positive third-quarter earnings.
Sectoral indices ended mixed, with services, property and financial posting week-on-week gains, while mining and oil, holding firms and industrial registering week-on-week losses.
Foreign investors were net buyers for the week by P1.17 billion, while the average daily value traded rose to P9.3 billion from the previous week’s average of P8.02 billion.
Weekly top price gainers were Globe Telecom Inc., which rose 8.9 percent to P3,430; Converge ICT Solutions Inc, which climbed 6.9 percent to P35.50; and AllDay Marts Inc., which rose 6.5 percent to P0.82.
Weekly top price losers were Semirara Mining and Power Corp., which declined 8.8 percent to P22.10; Petron Corp., which dropped 6.6 percent to P3.51; and Aboitiz Power Corp., which fell 5.2 percent to P31.55.
Meanwhile, global stock markets mostly climbed on Friday—a positive end to a week in which the threat of inflation spooked investors, but not enough to scuttle the rally.
Major US indices all gained, with the broad-based S&P 500 adding 0.7 percent, paring their losses for the week. But London’s FTSE bucked the bullish feeling, falling 0.5 percent.
It was the second straight day of gains on Wall Street, amid a sense traders may have overreacted to the inflation data on Wednesday.
“Inflation is running super-hot,” said Neil Wilson, chief markets analyst at Markets.com, pointing to multi-decade highs of key gauges in the United States, Japan and China.
Investors were spooked Wednesday following official US data showing annual consumer price inflation hit a 30-year high, which could force the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates more quickly to contain prices.
A survey from the University of Michigan released Friday said US consumer sentiment fell to a 10-year low amid concerns that growing inflation is undermining purchasing power.
But economists say sentiment should recover once global supply snarls are resolved, and consumers are unlikely to pull back on spending. With AFP