Listless trading seen this week

Local stocks are expected to remain listless once trading resumes Wednesday as investors scramble for leads in an abbreviated trading week.

Markets were closed Monday due to the holiday ending the Muslim holy month and remain closed Tuesday, which has been declared Ninoy Aquino Day.

In a research note to its clients, AB Capital Securities said sentiment this week would likely be driven by developments abroad, given that the local earnings season has already ended.

“One important event [this] week will be the Federal Reserve’s release of Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes, which will give insights into the US financial and economic conditions for the month,” AB Capital’s Gregg Adrian Ilag said.

He noted, however, that stocks on the Philippine Stock Exchange were now trading at an average of 16 times their earnings on a per-share basis, which he said was a premium to historical valuations.—Daxim L. Lucas