PSEi seen to continue climb, retest 7,300

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) could move higher this week after a strong finish on Friday following the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ surprise rate cut.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas said on the social media platform Twitter the PSEi could retest the 7,300 level after ending last week at 7,169.70.

He cautioned, however, that the index’s failure to defend the 7,000 level could see it slipping lower to 6,700.

Philippine stocks received an unexpected boost on Friday after the Monetary Board decided to cut the interest rate on the BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase facility by 25 basis points. This reduced the key rate to 2 percent.

The move was meant to provide needed support to the economy amid a rescission triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PSEi gained 2.87 percent last week.

Chris Mangun, research head at stock brokerage firm AAA Equities, said this also marked three consecutive weeks of advances for the benchmark index. INQ