Investors looking for Hints on PSEi’s Direction
The fate of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi)—hit by a massive sell-off last Friday—lies on several macroeconomic data to be released this week.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said investors would be taking cues from crucial data showing the economy’s situation, including the November inflation report.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas pegged inflation between 7.4 percent and 8.2 percent last month. The midpoint of the range, 7.8 percent, is, however, higher than the 7.7-percent print in October.
Ricafort estimated the support level for PSEi within 6,360 to 6,520 levels.
Last week, the PSEi snapped a six-day rally after investors pocketed some earnings, settling at the 6,400 level on the last trading day coming from the 6,700 territory.
“The market has since registered consecutive losses which may be due to investors limiting their exposures ahead of the release of several key economic data, which includes the US jobs data, Philippine inflation and unemployment rate,” China Bank Securities research director Rastine Mackie Mercado said.
Ricafort added the “latest healthy profit-taking of the PSEi” was mostly due to numbers coming from the United States, the world’s largest economy, that could fuel fresh recession fears.
On Friday, the benchmark PSEi dropped by 3.64 percent, or 245.34 points, to close at 6,489.65 while the broader All Shares index fell by 2.32 percent, or 81.38 points, to end at 3,419.65.
