Share prices are expected to move sideways this week, as investors remain cautious about developments overseas.
“Given the continued risk-off sentiments towards emerging markets, we expect cautious trading in global equities for [this] week as investors await global developments,” fund manager BPI Asset Management said in a weekly outlook.
BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravales said he expected the stock market to trade between 6,000 and 6,500 points in the near term due to external pressures.
“A break below the 6,400 [point level] could call for further losses to as low as 6,000,” Ravelas said.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, fell 1.9 percent over last week’s five-day market trading to close at 6,449.50 on Jan. 15, while the broader all-share index lost 2.4 percent to 3,698.
The benchmark index dropped to a two-year low of 6,288.26 points on Jan. 11, on continued concerns in China and further weakness in crude oil prices. The market recovered in the latter part of the week on bargain hunting.
All major sub-indices ended in the red, led by mining and oil (-6.7 percent), property (-4.21 percent), services (-4.06 percent), holding firms (-2.06 percent), industrial (-1.15 percent) and financial (0.53 percent).
Foreign investors were net sellers last week by P1.24 billion, as total foreign selling reached P16.32 billion while foreign buying amounted to P15.08 billion.
Top gainers last week were sugar producer Roxas Holdings Inc., which surged 34 percent to P5.90 and conglomerate San Miguel Corp., which climbed 13.4 percent to P60.
San Miguel said last week it would join the bidding for the foreign beer brands Peroni and Grolsch owned by SABMiller Plc. of the United Kingdom.
The conglomerate also said it would raise as much as P80 billion in fresh funds from the issuance of preferred shares.
Heavy price losers last week were Coal Asia Holdings Inc., which dropped 37.2 percent to P0.345 and LBC Express Holdings Inc, which shed 27 percent to P8.50.
The Makati regional trial court started to garnish some of the bank accounts, properties and assets of LBC Express in relation to the P1.8-billion collection claim filed by state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.
