Trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange will likely remain volatile ahead of the US presidential election on Nov. 8, analysts said over the weekend.
Analysts said aside from the US poll, market expectations of a US Fed rate hike in December were forcing investors to be cautious.
“Next week, the US – the world’s biggest economy – will choose either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as its next leader and the outcome shall reverberate across the global financial markets,” RCBC Securities said.
“A Trump win could inflate risk aversion and boost the US dollar due to his tax repatriation plan while a Clinton victory may cause a more muted reaction as she is largely perceived as the business-as-usual candidate,” RCBC Securities said.
“In any case, we also have our own domestic concerns in the coming days – including the 3Q corporate earnings performance and the 3Q GDP growth release. These, too, shall guide the Philippine market’s performance for the month of November,” it said.
The market is expected to trade between 7,000 and 7,500 points this week.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 2.4 percent last week to close at 7,227.37 on Nov. 5, while the all-share index dipped 1.7 percent to 4,325.72.
Except for the mining and oil index which managed to eke out a 0.2-percent gain, all other major indices ended in the red, led by property which declined 3.3 percent, services which went down by 2.6 percent and financials which decreased 2.6 percent.
Foreign investors were net sellers of P4.37 billion last week, with average daily turnover amounting to P8.5 billion.
Top gainers last week were Belle Corp. which jumped 6.2 percent to P3.10, GT Capital Holdings Inc. which advanced 5.5 percent to P1,383 and newly listed Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. which rose 3.4 percent to P69.50.
Heavy losers were Energy Development Corp. which declined 6.3 percent to P5.53, Robinsons Land Corp. which dropped 5.8 percent to P29.15 and Security Bank Corp. which dipped 5.3 percent to P208.80.