Cautious stock trading seen this week

MANILA, Philippines—After the combined bargain-hunting and window-dressing that allowed most local stocks to rebound last week, renewed caution is widely expected this week given a sluggish global market backdrop.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index recovered 2.9 percent to finish at 3,999.65 on Friday, overcoming a rough start for the week.

“It’s possible that the market will weaken this week but I think we’ve seen the worst last week. Even the Dow Jones [industrial index] has probably seen the worst,” said Eagle Equities president Joseph Roxas.

The PSEi threatened to return back to bear territory early last week when it hit a bottom of 3,721.22. But bargain-hunting, coupled with quarter-end window-dressing, lifted the index for the rest of the week.

“It’s theoretically possible that we might retest the recent lows but I don’t think so,” Roxas said, projecting that the index might trade between 3,800 and 4,100 this week.

“After moves like that [the freefall Monday last week and the Friday before that], the market will always be cautious,” Roxas said.