Market down slightly; Atlas, URC buck trend

The stock market slipped Tuesday ahead of government’s decision today to either keep or ease the lockdown restrictions in the capital region and the nearby provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 32.91 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,356.47 on a value turnover of P4.6 billion. Losers beat gainers, 119 to 83, with 51 issues unchanged.

Bloomberry Resorts Corp., a casino and hotel resort company owned by tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., dropped 3.6 percent to P6.17, while Aboitiz Power Corp. declined 2.4 percent to P22.20.

Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp., however, advanced 4.4 percent to P8.48, while Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, rose 2.4 percent to P135.10.

The rest of Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday ahead of a big week of key events including the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and earnings from tech titans.

While trading floors are geared up for a rocket-fueled surge in economic activity in the second half of the year and into the next, thanks to vaccinations and the easing of lockdowns, investors are in wait-and-see mode for now.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both ended Monday at record highs. But Asia struggled to follow suit with most markets swinging in and out of positive territory. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul and Jakarta were all in the red but Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai and Bangkok edged up. Shanghai was marginally higher.

The Fed’s gathering, which concludes Wednesday, is broadly expected to see it reassert its pledge to maintain ultra-loose policy until its goals on unemployment and inflation are met, though its statement will be parsed for an idea about the state of the US economy.

The central bank’s meetings are a crucial focus of investor interest as they continue to fret that the expected strong recovery will send prices soaring and force policymakers to raise the record low interest rates that have been a pillar of the global rally.

“From what I can tell,   the Fed is very close to meeting its objectives, but remains committed to keeping key short-term interest rates at or near zero through 2023,” said markets strategist Louis Navellier.

“The truth of the matter is the Fed can never raise key short-term interest rates much, otherwise it risks blowing up the federal government’s budget deficit, which is expected to cross above $30 trillion soon.   So we will likely remain in an ultralow interest rate environment for the rest of our lifetimes!”

Hilary Kramer, of Kramer Capital Research, was also upbeat.

“I am a bull,” she told Bloomberg TV. Fed boss Jerome Powell “is going to make sure he keeps rates low, he’s going to lag behind rather than trying to get ahead of inflation.”

The release of earnings from Wall Street giants including Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet will be closely watched, with forecasts on the strong side. With AFP