Market looks at recovery in 2019

Investors are looking forward to a stock market recovery in the new year after a volatile 2018.

Traders said the financial and property sectors are likely to lead the recovery in the new year.

“We go into 2019 with a lot of optimism as investors are eager to see the market’s recovery become a reality. The property and financial sector are seen to lead the market next year,” said Christopher Mangun of Eagle Equities.

He said there is strong demand growth for properties across the board from residential to office spaces coupled with the steady increase in property values.

Thus, Mangun said real-estate companies are on track to bring in record revenue despite the several interest rate hikes.

“On the other hand, the increase in interest rates has benefitted the banks as loan growth has not drastically slowed in spite of the increases. Economic fundamentals remain intact, even inflation has started to taper off with the continuous drop in oil prices. We may see more and more investors gain confidence and get back into this market,” he said.

This may also encourage foreign fund managers to return to the market.

2TradeAsia sees immediate support at 7,400 and resistance at 7,500 to 7,550.

Mangun also said that the next few weeks are going to be crucial for the Philippine Stock Exchange ,and although the main index has been trading sideways since the beginning of December, there may be a huge move soon based on the technicals.

“Several economic numbers like December inflation and fourth quarter GDP are going to be announced in the following weeks which may help fuel the rally,” he said.

The year 2018 was a rollercoaster ride for the stock market with the main index hitting a new high earlier in the year, slightly closing above 9,000 and then by the end of the year closing down by 12 percent, its biggest yearly loss since the Asian financial crisis back in 2008 when the index lost almost half of its value.