Market seen gaining momentum this week

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market is expected to gain momentum this week as the Chinese ghost month is coming to a close, analysts said.

However, traders said investors may need more catalysts to see whether or not the market’s rise would be sustainable.

“Chartwise, the week’s close at 8,180.85 highlights the market is gaining momentum to sustain the rally above 8,000. If the rally is sustained, we continue to see a break-out of a consolidation and could lead to a test of at least 8,300 level,” said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at Banco de Oro.

He said immediate support, as well as resistance is seen at 8,000 to 8,300 level in the near-term.

Last Friday, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed the week at another record high.

The PSEi ended Friday’s trading session at 8,180.85, up 35.94 points or 0.44 percent from Thursday’s record close of 8,144.91.

The All Shares index also closed higher at 4,836.33, up 20.42 points or 0.42 percent. Five of the six sectoral indices closed in the green with the property sector posting the biggest gain of 1.3 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P11.18 billion with 1.18 billion shares traded.

PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon welcomed the positive development. “Market sentiment continues to be positively buoyed by the favorable outlook of analysts on the overall market. This optimism was again validated with the market closing Friday at yet another record high and with trading value exceeding P11 billion.  We remain hopeful that our market levels and trading volumes continue to be robust,” Monzon said.

For 2TradeAsia.com, the end of the ghost month is adding to positive sentiment.

“Domestic liquidity indicators remain upbeat, as the Bureau of Treasury’s latest T-Bill auction was 3.5 times oversubscribed,” it said, adding that the end of the ‘ghost month’ period should improve investors’ appetite to accumulate.

At the same time, it said that attention would gyrate between geopolitical headlines in the region such as the UN Council’s next move following North Korea’s latest missile test that went past Japan, as well as trail from local headlines on the possibility of Martial Law, 2TradeAsia.com said.