Stock market may trade past 6,000

Share prices at the Philippine Stock Exchange will likely track a sideways movement this week with an upward bias on improving sentiments as the government moves to reopen the economy further.

Analysts said investors were merely waiting for positive catalysts that would support expectations the economy is indeed on the way to recovery before plunging into the equities market.

“Although narrowing trading bands can mean many things from a technical standpoint, it is most commonly of ‘indecisiveness,’ that is the market is left wanting for a ‘shove’ strong enough to break out from the current trend,” said online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia.com.

“Caution is therefore warranted, especially with the catalysts in the near term not particularly inspiring of a run above the 6,500,” it added.

Among these near term catalysts are third-quarter corporate earnings and the Monetary Board policy meeting scheduled late this month.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week advanced 3.2 percent to 5,967.96 on bargain hunting and stock positioning as the government continues to open the economy.

Except for mining and oil which ended flat, all sector indices ended in the positive territory. The property index led gainers with a 3.7-percent increase, holding firms rose 3.6 percent, while industrial climbed 3.3 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the week P2.1 billion, while the average daily value traded stood at P5.9 billion from the previous week’s average of P4.7 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were Philippine National Bank, which jumped 21 percent to P23.90; AC Energy Philippines Inc., which advanced 17.8 percent to P3.18; and Eagle Cement which climbed 14.8 percent to P14.22.

Weekly top price losers were Anchor Land Holdings Inc., which dropped 17.1 percent to P7.04; 8990 Holdings Inc., which declined by 4.5 percent to P7.34; and Filinvest Land Inc., which fell 4.3 percent to P0.89.

World stock markets, meanwhile, were mixed Friday as European traders mulled over Britain’s increasingly acrimonious war dance with the EU, while in the United States technology shares continued to pull back.

Sterling remained under pressure as Britain sparred with Brussels, rejecting an ultimatum to withdraw controversial Brexit legislation but agreeing to extend talks next week.

On the plus side for British industry, a stuttering currency”•which hauled itself off multi-month midweek lows”•has been helping to boost share prices of index multinational’s earnings in dollars.

Those increases helped London’s FTSE index gain ground on Friday.

After Thursday’s sterling selloff, the pound was stable on Friday amid news the British economy expanded 6.6 percent”•albeit still well off pre-coronavirus levels.

“Ultimately UK investors will probably thank the UK government for pushing down sterling and allowing the FTSE the room to recover 6000 (points),” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. With AFP