Market to remain volatile

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market remained volatile last week and may still take time before it stabilizes, traders said.

Any attempt to go up would still be limited as foreign investors continue to stay away from emerging markets including the Philippines.  

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the stock market barometer, is seen retesting the 7,500 levels, but might still be limited amid prevailing concerns such as rising oil prices and spiralling inflation. 

“Chartwise, the week’s close at 7,672.28 highlights the market’s inability to sustain the rally above the 7,800 levels. Market was short of our 8,000 levels bounce. It only managed to top at 7,906.45 this week. Expect a retest of the 7,500 levels. Any pullback (if any) would be limited to the 7,900 to 8,000 levels,” said Jonathan Ravelas, market strategist at BDO.  

Last week, the PSEi tumbled anew by 1.03 percent to close at 7,672.28. 

Ravelas said rising oil prices put inflation concerns on centerstage again, boosting prospects of another round of interest rate increase.

“Higher commodity prices and a weaker peso have also put consumers into a worried state,” he said. 

Harry Liu, president of Summit Securities Inc., said the market is technically driven and is still adjusting and may still take a few more months to stabilize. 

Investors thus remain on the sidelines as they wait for more market-moving developments.

For Chris Mangun of Eagle Equities, the sector to look at in these times would be the property sector. 

“We continue to be bullish on property stocks as the real-estate sector proves to be very strong in terms of sales. As we go into the new trading week, based on the market sentiment the index will continue to trade within this congestion area between the strong support at 7,500 and the resistance at 7,830. If we see a pick-up in volume, the index may break above resistance and try for the next one at 8,000. A break of 8,000 will confirm a trend reversal which will bring investors back into this market,” Mangun said.