PSEi seen retesting 8,000 mark

THE LOCAL stock barometer is seen retesting the 8,000 level this week after mustering new strength from the recent stream of local corporate earnings and the MSCI rebalancing.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 118.74 points or 1.5 percent to close at 7,881.95 on Friday.

“[Last] week’s rally was fueled by the release of corporate earnings results and the

rebalancing of the MSCI index. The market was further buoyed by the central bank keeping the policy rates unchanged during their last policy review,” said Banco de Oro Unibank chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas.

“Chartwise, the week’s close above the 7,800 level signals a retest of the 8,000 mark and possibly of the all-time high,” he said.

During the last monetary-setting meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, interest rates were kept unchanged as widely expected.

“A change in interest rate may not be appropriate at the moment given flush liquidity conditions and upside risks to inflation in the fourth quarter 2015. The central bank is trying to streamline its monetary policy operations, as current interest rate tools are blunt and not entirely effective. And this will take some time. The decision to hold rates steady reflects these considerations,” said HSBC economist Trinh Nguyen.

Nguyen said external headwind was intensifying, dragging down export performance and remittance growth. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla