Market to continue moving sideways

Market observers are taking a sober view for the coming week given external woes and an unmotivated investor base.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) slumped 1.09 percent week-on-week to end at 7,38.96.

Jonathan Ravelas of BDO Unibank Inc. said this underscored an accelerating “downward momentum.”

“A break below 7,700 opens the gate for a test of the year’s low at 7,514.05 levels which could occur in the near-term. Brace for impact,” he said.

Chris Mangun, research head at stock brokerage firm AAA Equities, said in an interview the current investor behavior suggested a retest of the 7,500 level. –MIGUEL R. CAMUS INQ