Market to take cues from ASEAN meetings

Market participants will be looking at this week's series of talks at the ASEAN Summit and other related meeting that could potentially make impact on the private sector, especially to listed companies.

Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said that as the Philippines hosts the gathering of leaders for the ASEAN Summit on November 13 to 15, participants anticipate the likelihood for wider trade deals on top of possible talks for political perspectives and alliances to address geopolitcal risks.

"Potential sources of funding will likewise be zeroed-in, given ASEAN's promising fiscal expenditure drive for 2018. The preferred perspective so far is for economic deals to gain traction above regional efforts' drive to improve the peace and order process," 2TradeAsia. com said.

"Sentiment is likely to glide on this delicate balance to ensure economic roadmaps will support capex [capital expenditure] rollout initiatives among listed firms," it further said.

Albeit sluggish, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) managed to gain a few points last week, with most of the sectors also on the positive territory. Week on week, the benchmark index rose by 57 points, or 0.7 percent to close at 8,433.

Marita Limlingan, president of Regina Capital Development Corp., said that locally, many participants already cashed in gains ahead of the ASEAN summit due to the long holidays, while some investors wanted to see first the output of these meetings.

She also said that Philippines and US stocks have both lost ground, pulling back from all-time highs, as investors expressed concern over a report that tax legislation due to be unveiled by Senate Republicans would delay a corporate tax cut until 2019.

"In addition, European stocks logged their biggest daily loss in more than four months as an early selloff gathered pace with the US market open," she further said.