Investors await signs of PSEi trend reversal

MANILA  -Investors will be looking for reversal signs after the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) snapped a multiweek downtrend after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) delivered an expected 25 basis point interest rate increase.

The PSEi rose 2.05 percent to 6,602.17 the past week amid bargain hunting.

“For the week, the PSEi corrected higher after declining for eight straight weeks,” said Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

He said investors also welcomed BSP Governor Felipe Medalla’s view that inflation could ease below 4 percent in the latter part of the year, Ricafort said.

Resistance levels

He pegged the next important resistance targets from 6,730 to 6,830. For technical analysts, breaching a key resistance area could provide momentum for more upside.

Meanwhile, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said the recent February inflation print of 8.6 percent remained “uncomfortably high” and it expected the BSP to raise interest rates further.

BSP not yet done raising rates—Nomura

“The BSP may need to continue hiking interest rates in the first half of the year considering the inflation outlook,” the lender said in a statement last week.

“Inflation story may become favorable in the second half of the year, barring any global commodity price shocks and provided that nonmonetary measures prove effective in normalizing food supply situation in the country,” BPI said.

Philippine central bank raises key policy rate by 25 bps

“It is only by then that we think the BSP could reasonably consider re-assessing its tightening campaign. Moreover, further tightening may help the central bank rebuild its external buffers after having lost so much in 2022,” it added. INQ