Share price are expected to trade sideways with a downward bias after slumping last week on slowing global economy concerns.
Analysts said investors are worried the continued rise in US inflation and interest rates could trigger a global recession.
Post-election jitters are also causing investors to opt to stay on the sidelines until a clear direction from the incoming new administration emerges.
The stock market, however, could be ripe for some technical rebound after the Philippine Stock Exchange Index dropped by 8.7 percent in the past four weeks.
“Domestically some investors have taken a risk-off stance with the results of the Philippine national elections. At this stage, the PSEi is at a cheap at 14.8x P/E (price-to-earnings) and amid pressures is a good fundamental level to accumulate,” said brokerage firm Urade.com.ph research head Gabryle D. Aguila said.
The index last week plunged 5.6 percent to close at 6,397.17 as investors ignored the better-than-expected first quarter gross domestic product figures.
The government last week reported that the GDP surpassed its pre-pandemic level after expanding 8.3 percent in the first three months of 2001, a reversal of the 3.8-percent contraction in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, all sectoral indices ended in the red led by mining and oil, which declined 7.4 percent; holding firms which dropped 6.6 percent; property which sank 6 percent; financials which fell 4.7 percent; industrial which shed 4.3 percent; and service which lost 4.2 percent.
Foreign investors were net sellers for the week by P4.1 billion while the average daily value traded stood at P12 billion from the previous week’s average of P5.5 billion.
Weekly top price gainers were Monde Nissin Corp., which rose 7.3 percent to P14.36; Alliance Global Group Inc., which climbed 4.9 percent to P11.54; and San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc., which advanced 4.2 percent to P63.
Weekly top price losers were ABS-CBN Corp., which declined 20.7 percent to P10.22; GMA Network Inc., which dropped 19 percent to P10.28; and AC Energy Corp., which sank 18 percent to P6.23.
Meanwhile, Wall Street stocks rebounded Friday after a bruising week beset with worries over inflation, the Ukraine war and the economic outlook.
Following a strong session in Europe and Asia, Wall Street closed the week robustly, with the tech-rich Nasdaq jumping nearly four percent and the S&P 500 pushing back above 4,000 points.
But even with Friday’s rally, all three major US indices posted losses for the week.
Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services warned “it will take more than one session” to turn around the market, adding that there was no clear news catalyst for Friday’s gains.
Analysts at Briefing.com said the turnaround was largely due to “a sentiment-driven trade wrapped up in the notion that stocks are deeply oversold and due for a bounce.”
Stocks were under pressure for most of the week as fresh data showing elevated US inflation deepened expectations for aggressive action from the Federal Reserve as it tightens monetary policy. With AFP
