PH stocks play waiting game after markets’ dizzy ride

Philippine investors are on wait and see as global equity markets rapidly pivoted from losses to sharp gains last week after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) benchmark index lost 2.78 percent the previous week to end at 7,212.23 on Thursday. The markets were on holiday on Friday as the Philippines celebrated the anniversary of the 1986 People Power revolt that ousted the regime of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Regional indices rebounded while Wall Street markets rallied hard on Friday as global investors shrugged off the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

April Lynn Tan, vice president, corporate strategy officer at COL Financial Group Inc., said the turnaround came as the market appeared to be pricing in a less aggressive rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, which is grappling with historic-high inflation.

Opportunity to buy

It was not yet clear how the Philippine market would react today, Feb. 28, but she said “if the market is sold off, we maintain the view that it’s an opportunity to buy on dips.”

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, also said they were monitoring events leading up to Monday’s open.

“So long as the situation appears to ‘calm down,’ [the Philippine] markets should react in the same manner as the US did last Friday,” he said.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the PSE Index on Thursday returned to its consolidation range between 7,000 and 7,350.

“However, should risk-off trades continue, a break below the 7,000 levels could lead to further losses towards the 6,500 to 6,800 levels,” he said. INQ