PH investors brace for volatile week

Investors are bracing for another volatile week as the remaining batch of 2021 corporate earnings reports collide with ongoing geopolitical risks and a looming interest rate hike in the United States.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) fell 3.13 percent to 7,112.19 last week.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the drop came amid a period of “risk-off” themes in the domestic and international markets.

Investors were rocked by the surge in global commodity prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict that were amplified by sanctions imposed by global powers against Moscow.

Ravelas said the PSEi’s weekly close above the 7,000 indicated strong support in the near-term.

But he warned a breakdown below 6,950 for the PSEi would “call for further losses toward the 6,500/6,800 levels.”

He earlier advised long-term investors to gradually scale into the market should it decline further.

Observers are also weighing the impact of an interest rate increase after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said he would support a 25-basis point rate hike in their meeting this week to combat inflation. INQ