Stocks seen moving higher

Local stocks are seen continuing to trade with an upward bias this week on the back of the strong sentiment in Wall Street and the rosy outlook on local economic and corporate earnings prospects this year.

Last week, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped 2.45 percent to close at a new record high of 6,318.61 on Friday.

“It seems there’s room to go up. The US market is very strong,” said Joseph Roxas, president of local stockbrokerage Eagle Equities Inc. “If a stock goes down a little, new investors come in. I think we’re getting new investors. We can’t get that kind of volume we’re seeing these days without new investors coming in.”

JP Morgan’s Asian and emerging market equity strategist Adrian Mowat said his firm was “overweight” on the Philippines for 2013.  The firm expects an upside of at least 15 percent for the PSEi this year.

But Roxas said the market would likely quiet down toward the end of the week ahead of the forthcoming Lunar year turnover.

Freya May Natividad, an analyst at 2TradeAsia.com, said better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) data for 2012 kept sentiment vibrant last week, pushing barometers above the 6,300 level.

“Having zoomed above 6,300, sessions might move within 6,250-6,300 over the short term to allow barometers to establish another firmer base. Some might also start to discount the benefits from the election season in May, aside from possibilities of obtaining an investment grade rating for 2013,” Natividad said. Doris C. Dumlao