STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK
Last week
SHARE prices fell last week as sentiment weakened after the US Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised its interest rates to combat rising inflation.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 83.62 points to close at 6,496.50 points.
The main index was mostly up during the early part of the week, but declined the most on Thursday and Friday as the rate increases were announced.
Average daily trading for week was at P5.16 billion, still lower than the year-to-date average of about P6 billion.
Foreign investors, which just cornered an average of 11 percent of the trades, were net sellers at P1.94 billion.
All other sub-indices went down, with the exception of the Financials index that gained 5.09 points to close at 1,644.47 points. The broader All Shares index declined 37.27 to 3,400.13, the Industrial index fell 7.26 to 9,272.55, the Holding Firms index was down 14.66 to 6,346.91, the Property index retreated 68.20 to 2,790.90, the Services index plunged 75.38 to 1,657.03 and the Mining and Oil index dropped 410.55 to 10,165.83.
For the week, losers edged gainers 139 to 85 and 24 shares were unchanged.
The top gainers for the week were Chemical Industries of the Philippines Inc., Ferronoux Holdings Inc., Vivant Corp., Anchor Land Holdings Inc., Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., Jolliville Holdings Corp. and Central Azucarera de Tarlac Inc.
The top losers, meanwhile, were Dizon Copper-silver Mines Inc., SP New Energy Corp., PLDT Inc., Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc., ENEX Energy Corp., Roxas Holdings Inc. and Acesite (Phils.) Hotel Corp.
this week
SHARE prices may rise this week, which will be the last full week session for the year.
Broker 2Tradeasia said there may be last minute shopping for beaten down plays in the last few sessions of 2022.
“There is more opportunity to quietly snipe some bargains. At the end of the day, a dynamic portfolio strategy that can be ‘bent’ will be key to winning over 2023 headwinds,” it said.
Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., the market is still expected to go through a rough path as monetary outlooks weigh on growth prospects which in turn may still cloud sentiment.
“The Federal Reserve’s policy outlook poses recession risks on the US which may spill over to the rest of the global economy. Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas which is still on a tightening path may slow down our local economic growth,” Tantiangco said.
The market’s major support is still seen at 6,400 while its major resistance is seen at 6,600. Last week, the market has fallen below its 200-day exponential moving average. If it is unable to get back above the said line in the immediate term, then we may see more bearish movements from the market moving forward, he said.
stock picks
BROKER Regina Capital Development Corp. advised to buy when support price holds for the stock of PLDT Inc. (TEL) as its share price plunged below its 50-day moving average.
“However, the fact that TEL is already trading at a discount to its historical price levels should also be given equal weight. Hence, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if bargain hunters show up somewhere around P1,520,” Regina Capital said.
The shares of PLDT closed last week at P1,478 apiece.
Meanwhile, Regina Capital advised to trade the range on the stock of Converge Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Solutions Inc. (CNVRG) as despite its dropping share price, investors need not worry that much since the stock is still situated within its trading range which runs from P13.60 to P16.05 and traded volume logged was not higher than usual.
“Additionally, the recent market action of the stock is not out of the ordinary, giving weight to the fact that for most of last week’s trading, CNVRG almost staged a breakout from its resistance,” Regina Capital said. “Overall, the stock is seen to move sideways, generally within the aforementioned trading range, albeit with a downward bias.”
The shares of Converge ICT Solutions closed at P13.74 apiece last week.