Opportunities arise amid sideways trade

Looking at the longer term basis, with mass vaccination happening

While the bourse barometer is expected to trade sideways this week, opportunities will be open for speculative trade on non-index names.

Philequity Management Inc. vice president for business development Miguel Agarao suggests investors to go for companies with faster recovery and stronger balance sheets.

Agarao sees the stock market to move sideways in the interim then see a divergence once the first quarter earnings come out.

“Looking at the longer term basis, with mass vaccination happening, recovery is certain and it will be just a question of when and what pace it occurs,” he noted.

The analyst added that going into the 2022 elections, the market should do well. “What happens in the short term or the next three to six months is less certain,” Agarao shared.

Pundits said the market is far from exhausted but on top of the mind of everyone is how the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis turns out particularly since resurgence is hitting closer to home for many.

“The market is waiting for a catalyst to get us out of the rut of recurring resurgences of infections. The key is mass vaccination,” Agarao indicated.

For last week, the index was down 0.8 percent. The Philippine Stock Exchange index ended Friday in the negative as it shed 0.69 percent, or 45.15 points, to 6,494.81 points. Volume totaled 6.77 billion shares amounting to P5.67 billion.

Global markets recover

Global stocks also rallied with major indices hitting new all-time highs, following data showing record economic growth in China and additional acceleration in the United States.

China saw expansion of 18.3 percent in the first quarter, boosted by a sharper-than-expected increase in retail sales.

The economic growth figure was the highest since records began three decades ago, enhanced by its chronically weak comparison figure from last year, though the reading was slightly below forecasts in a newswire survey.

“The national economy made a good start,” National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Liu Aihua told reporters Friday.

Recovery is certain and it will be just a question of when and what pace it occurs.

In the United States, new housing starts jumped 19.4 percent in March, while housing permits also outperformed expectations.

The data came on the heels of strong government reports on employment and retail sales released Thursday.

“We had tremendous data all week this week,” said Chris Low of FHN Financial.