Market seen to continue trading sideways this week

MANILA, Philippines - The local stock market may continue trading sideways this week pending the outcome of third quarter earnings results.

“The market is seen to move flatly next week. The bias (whether higher or lower) will come from whether the results will meet expectations. Trading may slow down a bit as investors focus on companies that are scheduled to release their figures for the third quarter,” said Prince Anthony Yeung of AB Capital Securities.

Expected to report this week are index issues Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., ICTSI, and the Aboitiz Group.

Last week, the PSEi fell 18.13 points or 0.42 percent to close at 4,268.74 as investors locked in gains as they await the release of earnings results of companies.

Cebu Air which began trading on the stock exchange last Tuesday, was heavily traded throughout the week but saw its share price decline to P124.50 Friday or below its initial public offering price of P125 apiece.

Among the issues that saw a run-up in their share prices last week include Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp., DMCI Holdings and JG Summit Holdings.

Atlas,which closed at P17.94 Friday, completed its 16th shipment of 4,925 dmt ores worth $9.82 million to Guixi City, Jianxi Province, PROC. Its Toledo mine produces an  average of 41,700 dmt per day. 

Atlas owns 65.53 percent of Carmen Copper Corp. with the balance held by Crescent Asian Special Opportunities Portfolio (CASOP.)

DMCI rose 2.27 percent to settle at P38.20 Friday, benefiting from Semirara ‘s impressive performance. 

JG Summit, on the other hand, closed at P25.65, up by P0.05.

DMCI and JG Summit, together with the Lopez-led First Gen Corp. are the new entrants to the 30-company main composite index, replacing diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp., GMA Network and Security Bank Corp.

The changes will take effect next Monday, Nov. 8, 2010.

San Miguel was removed from the list because its free float of 8.1 percent fell below the minimum of 10 percent.

PSEi is a basket of stocks of the country’s most traded, most liquid and well-capitalized listed firms. It is generally considered as a generally considered as a benchmark of the stock market’s performance.

To be included in the PSEi, a listed company must satisfy five criteria – the free float level, liquidity, volume turnover, tradability and free float market capitalization.