PSEi seen to continue consolidation

The local stock market could remain volatile this week as investors may decide to stay on the sidelines ahead of a key meeting by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, analysts said.

The caution also comes as the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) sank by more than 3 percent last week to 6,014.94 as of Friday. It was down four out of five trading sessions last week.

“The so-called Santa Claus rally has been relatively absent and this week is no exception as the main index may move sideways as investors await (the results of) the BSP’s policy meeting,” stock brokerage firm AB Capital Securities Inc. said in its weekly outlook report.

AB Capital noted that the BSP this week could shed more details on preemptive actions it took in terms of dealing with Supertyphoon “Yolanda’s” impact on the economy.

“Consider that the property subindex posted the largest loss among the six sectoral indices last week due to the threat of rising interest rates in the near term,” AB Capital noted.

Wall Street, meanwhile, rebounded Friday night, on a positive jobs report but Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance Inc., said domestic markets might not be as buoyant.

“We don’t expect anything exciting this week. External concerns or tapering will remain a burden,” Del Castillo said. The PSEi would remain in “consolidation,” with a trading range seen at 6,000 to 6,300, he said. “We think 6,000 should hold, however,” he noted.

For AB Capital, the risk that the markets could slip below the current support remained.

“Although the cautionary atmosphere will prevail during the week, we do not forgo the possibility of a downside risk (tapering-related) that could dip the main index to the 5,700,” AB Capital said. Miguel R. Camus