Stocks seen to rise

The local stock barometer is seen to trade with an upside bias this week as investors factor in the stream of corporate earnings results and fund flows arising from the inclusion of more Philippine corporations into the FTSE All-World Index.

Last week, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) crept higher by 56.84 points or 0.88 percent to end on Friday at 6,481.83, paring gains at the week’s close.

Manny Cruz, chief strategist at Asiasec Equities, said the local market could still have gas to rise in the coming days as the realignment in the FTSE indices have yet to be fully executed.

Effective at the closing of trades on March 21 this year, the following stocks will join the FTSE All-World Index: Petron, JG Summit, GT Capital, LT Group and Emperador while the weight for Ayala Corp. was increased. The Philippines’ weight in the FTSE’s emerging market country

flows thus improved from 1.53 percent to 1.69 percent.

The FTSE All-World Index is the large- to mid-cap aggregate of about 2,800 stocks from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series.

Jonathan Ravelas, chief strategist at Banco de Oro Unibank, said the main index was poised to test the 6,500 to 6,700 levels in the near term despite the recent profit-taking.

AB Capital Securities analyst Gregg Adrian Ilag said the preferred strategy for the week would be to lighten position on rallies, adding that global market sentiment would still be affected by the geopolitical developments in Ukraine and Russia.

Onshore, Ilag said domestic investors would likely focus on earnings reports from Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Aboitiz Power, Ayala Corp. and Vistaland and Lifescapes Inc. Doris C. Dumlao