The market made a fantastic weekly advance of 189.91 points or 2.7 percent at the end of trading last week on the back of the investment credit-rating upgrade it received from Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Similar to the first it received from Fitch Ratings over a month ago, the country was given a “stable” outlook while its credit rating was “raised to BBB- from BB+.”
At the 2013 Asean Summit held last week in Brunei Darussalam, P-Noy said the Philippines was no longer the “Sick Man of Asia,” a phrase originally used to refer to China’s weak and impoverished economic disposition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but now used to describe Asian nations with a similar experience.
Excitement filled the trading floor of the exchange last Friday as the market closed at an all-time high of 6,891.43. Now, the market is technically free to make an unrestrained run through uncharted territory, so to speak. Looking at the week’s trading record, however, the prospects of a market rally that could turn into a raging bull run is still far from happening.
Last Wednesday, the market hit a record high of 6,847.47 as the country was accorded for the first time an investment grade rating.
Immortalized as an ominous time in William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar,” the Ides of March—or the period between March 13 and 15 in the old Roman calendar—seemed to have played out again as a dangerous date with what had happened last week.
The market is unstoppable. After a slight pullback the other week— the first this year— it resumed its rally with a weekly gain of 191.50 points, equivalent to 2.88 percent, from the previous week as it closed last Friday at 6,833.77.
At the end of trading last Friday, the market posted a loss of 79.18 points or 1.18 percent to close at 6,642.27. Along with its additional two consecutive days of losses on Tuesday and Wednesday, this made the market to suffer its first weekly loss for the year.
WHAT’S the difference between a bull market and a bull run? I don’t blame you if you find yourself struggling with these terminologies. With what has been happening in the market, this feeling of perplexity is understandable. I, myself, has been searching for the fine lines to define the difference and understand what exactly is happening.
Trading ended higher last Friday, allowing the market to post a weekly gain of 62.97 points or 0.97 percent as the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) settled at 6,521.64.
The rate at which the market has been moving up since January is staggering. In only 28 days of trading from the start of the year, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index or PSEi already scored a total net advance of 12 percent. This is about four times of the registered average monthly net rate of advance in 2012.
When the market resumed trading on Wednesday last week, it was forced to drop further. This led the benchmark index lower by 54.66 points at 5,152.15, equivalent to a 1.05-percent loss from the previous close. On Thursday, the market immediately sprang back to gain 50.69 points or 0.98 percent as it closed at 5,202.84. The recovery would have been quite significant if the market’s advance was sustained on Friday.
