Stocks seen to rise

Local stocks are seen trading with some upward bias this shortened trading week on yearend window-dressing.

Last week, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index recovered 68 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 5,835.13 on Friday despite the pullback in the past two days.

“I think it will still be slightly bullish,” said Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc., adding that last Friday’s fall was partly due to shocks from the airport shooting incident at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. The mayor of Labangan town in Zamboanga del Sur, his wife and two others were killed in an ambush at the arrival area of Naia 3 Friday morning.

Roxas said quarter-end and yearend window-dressing might shore up the PSEi by 100 points as the market enters the last trading week of the year.

Many traders and market participants, however, have gone on a Yuletide holiday break. AB Capital Securities analyst Gregg Adrian Ilag said the PSEi had surged from oversold levels this past week even as the US Federal Reserve started the tapering of monetary stimulus. This was after Ben Bernanke, the outgoing Fed chair, announced a reduction in the Fed’s monthly asset purchases by $10 billion, from $85 billion to $75 billion starting January.

“The $10-billion reduction, which was already discounted in the past weeks, triggered a brief relief rally upon its release to news wires. Investors were previously speculating that tapering won’t start until Janet Yellen takes over as Fed chair this January. The Fed also stated that it plans to keep supporting the US economy through low interest rates,” Ilag said. Doris C. Dumlao