Lackluster trading seen

Local stocks are seen to trade sideways with a slight upward bias this shortened week ahead of the long Lenten break.

Last week, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 65.29 points or 1.3 percent to close at 5,107.73 on Friday. The index was aided by net foreign buying amounting to P1.28 billion for the week.

For the first three months, the PSEi rose 16.8 percent, its best quarterly gain seen in 11 years.

Conrado Bate, president of online stockbrokerage COL Financial, said that aside from the thinner volume associated with the Holy Week, some people might be staying out of the market for the meantime as some stocks hit overbought levels.

“Volume will be light. I don’t think the upside will be much,” he said, adding though that long-term investors should still be on the lookout for opportunities, especially during pullbacks. “The risk is in the short-term but the reward is in the long-term,” he said.

“This week will be positive but quiet. Historically, the market usually trades without much fanfare during this period,” said Manny Lisbona, deputy chief at PNB Securities.