MANILA, Philippines — Stocks are expected to continue trading sideways this week, with a cautious atmosphere seen persisting among investors as they await for fresh leads.
While the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished in positive territory last Friday at 6,352.12, it registered a 2.22 percent week-on-week drop.
Sun Life Investment Management and Trust Corp. president Michael Enriquez said this week would be critical with the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.
“Investors are anticipating his announcement on how he plans to make changes in trade tariffs and taxes. This would determine the short term movement in the financial market,” he said.
Enriquez expects the PSEi to continue trading at a narrow range of 6,200 to 6,500, with US dollar/Philippine peso levels and US long term interest rates cited as near term factors.
First Metro Investment Corp. head of research Cristina Ulang, for her part, said the market would continue to be prone to profit-taking with volatility persisting.
“Thus, range-bound 6,300 to 6,500 and hypersensitive to Trump 2.0 developments,” she said.
Unicapital head of research Wendy Estacio-Cruz also expects the index to range between 6,300 and 6,500 over the next five trading days.
“The PSEi bounced back on Friday after it dipped the previous session amid bargain hunting. We look forward to the release of Philippine GDP growth for full year to be released on Jan. 30,” she said.