Weak trading seen

THE LOCAL stock market is seen facing another challenging week as investors lack fresh catalysts to load up on equities given a gloomy global economic backdrop.

Last week, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 110.68 points or 1.6 percent to close on Friday at 6,654.45. It was the first trading week of the new lunar “Year of the Fire Monkey.”

“PSEi is expected to continue moving sideways this week, but with a bearish bias as price continues to struggle below three-month trendline resistance, which increases the likelihood of a correction,” Regina Capital managing director Luis Gerardo Limlingan said. “Like in the previous weeks, we are still yet to see a clear higher low base, making our reversal scenario unlikely at this point.”

Limlingan said 6,600 remained the support level to watch this week, while noting that 6,576 could provide the next line of defense.

Failure to hold these levels would result in a slide toward 6,487 and further down to 6,390, Limlingan said.

“On the other hand, rallying past 6,769 would allow further advances toward 6,900-6,950 resistance points, though sustaining it would be hard due to low momentum reads,” he said. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla