All eyes on inflation reading
Investors would be taking positions ahead of the June inflation reading on Tuesday amid expectations consumer prices further accelerated last month.
Week-on-week, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 0.84 percent to 6,165.35 after Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno warned June inflation would jump between 5.7 percent and 6.5 percent.
Diokno said inflation was driven by continued hikes in domestic fuel prices, upward adjustment in electricity rates, higher prices of key food items, and the weaker Philippine peso.
Diokno’s range suggested faster price increases for basic consumer goods compared to the May 2022 inflation reading of 5.4 percent.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the PSEi had now dropped for a fourth straight week.
He pegged the next key support level at 6,000 while immediate resistance was seen at around 6,300 to 6,500.
“The situation in the financial markets would remain similar for as long as the Russia-Ukraine conflict drags on, in terms of relatively elevated global commodity prices and inflation,” Ricafort said.
Meanwhile, PSE president Ramon Monzon said the PSE was still hopeful it could reach the P200-billion capital raising target for the full year after money raised at the exchange was down 50 percent as of the first semester of 2022 versus the same period in 2021.
