Thin trading seen

MANILA, Philippines—Trading this week is expected to stay thin as investors stay on the sidelines and wait for local and international developments that can swing sentiment in either direction.

Investors were mostly anxious and quiet last week, resulting in modest trading activity that saw the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closing at 4,166.60, or 0.32-percent higher week on week.

“The top gainers were dominated by third-tier stocks that are, at most, speculative. Meanwhile, [the] mining sector, which used to be the interest of investors, remained stable and quiet,” investment firm AB Capital Online said.

The market’s slow and volatile behavior could be attributed to sentiments on Europe’s crisis and concerns on China, whose growth fuels the activity in the Asian region, the brokerage firm said.

Last week’s top performers were IPVG Corp., (down 3.6 percent), Alliance Global Inc. (up 7.2 percent), Megaworld Corp. (up 12.3 percent), Universal Robina Corp., (up 4.4 percent), and SM Investments Corp. (up 3.4 percent).

IPVG dominated the trading scene last week because of the reported acquisition deal with the group of businessman Enrique Razon Jr.

“What we can expect [this week] is a similar movement as [last week’s],” AB Capital said in its weekly report.

Nearing the resistance level of 4,180, AB Capital said the index seemed to be consolidating below this level and testing if it could successfully breach it. But given the uncertainties, particularly in the debt-ridden European region, “the PSEi may just keep consolidating until sentiments and foreign markets improve.”—Paolo G. Montecillo