Lower volume seen due to dual holiday

INVESTORS looking for buying opportunities could provide a boost for the stock market during a shortened trading week, analysts said.

There will be no trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, August 21, due to the celebration of Ninoy Aquino Day and the Eid al Adha holiday.

“With only four trading days … we are expecting to see lower volume,” Eagle Equities, Inc. research head Christopher John Mangun said.

He said market players could take the opportunity to load up positions on blue-chip issues that experienced pullbacks in the prior week. If this happens, the market could move sideways or even gain a little.

“But t if it can’t hold … then we may see it come all the way down to 7,360,” Mangun added.

“The index is currently down only 1 percent for the month of August. Retail investors are going to continue to look for more opportunities in second-liners as the main index is still in limbo.”

Gabriel Jose Perez, trader at Papa Securiites Corp. advised investors to remain vigilant for news overseas as these drove much of the market’s movement last week.

Stock markets worldwide were rattled last week as the Turkish lira dove to record lows against the dollar, weighed down by rising tensions between Ankara and Washington.

For this week, markets are ex-