Stocks seen to rise

INVESTORS should closely monitor support levels for this week to determine whether recent record gains could be sustained and even breached anew, a stockbrokerage house said.

The advice followed the strong performance of the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) last week. The measure ended on the last trading session before the Lenten holidays at a new record high of 7,993.09 after rising 0.7 percent. The index rose 1.46 percent for the week, extending year-to-date gains to 10.5 percent.

An analyst poll last week nevertheless showed that many expected the PSEi to scale new heights in the second quarter, at least before volatility from any rate increase signaled by the powerful US Federal Reserve kicks in.

“I believe that the market can still go up as liquidity conditions remain favorable. [First-quarter] earnings results would also come out in the second quarter and if they surprise positively, could act as a catalyst fueling share prices higher,” April Lee-Tan, research head at COL Financial Group Inc., said in an e-mail.

For this week, Regina Capital Development Corp. advised investors to keep an eye on support levels “to make sure that it holds firmly.” Miguel R. Camus