Share prices are expected to move higher in the last two trading days of the the year on window dressing.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index has risen in the past trading days due to a year-end rebalancing of stock portfolios. The trading volumes, however, were thin as most investors opted to go on vacation.
“Next week, we’ll see if the market will end with a bang. The PSEi will need to rally by at least 3.16 percent over the two-day trading week so as not to end the year in the negative territory,” Ralph Christian Bodollo of RCBC Securities said.
Investors are expected to snap up select bargains, including blue chips that are expected to sustain gains in 2016.
The bellwether PSE Index went back to the 7,000 mark before the Christmas break last week, up 1.97 percent from the previous week’s close, on year-end window dressing and gains in Wall Street
The broader All Shares Index ended at 3,994.66, up 1.36 percent.
The stock market is still down 3.16 percent year-to-date.
All major subindices were in the green led by holding firms (2.27 percent), property (2.14 percent), financials (1.39 percent), services (1.10 percent), industrial (1.08 percent) and mining and oil (0.23 percent).
Foreign investors were net buyers during the shortened trading week by P1.08 billion, as total foreign buying amounted to P6.07 billion while total foreign selling reached P4.98 billion.
Weekly top price gainers were Anchor Land Holdings Inc., which closed higher by 7.5 percent to P7.50; Benguet Corp., which gained 18.2 percent to P6.50; and Philippine H20 which jumped 14.6 percent to P2.97 per share.
Weekly top price losers were MJC Investments Corp., which declined 20.8 percent to P3 and gaming firms Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp. and Premium Leisure Corp., which dropped 12.5 percent and 11.76 percent, respectively.