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Last week
Share prices resumed its upward trend last week, as the United States Federal Reserve kept its rates steady.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 59.65 points to end at 6,881.97 points.
“The Fed’s status quo move boosted another round of global buying this week, but supply pressure capped local gains. The PSEi rose as much as 141 points before profit-taking resumed,” broker 2TradeAsia said.
Volume of trade was still low, reaching an average value of P5.19 billion. Foreign investors, which cornered 43 percent of the trade, were still net buyers at P475.3 million.
All other sub-indices ended in the green, with the exemption of the Holding Firms index which fell 112.78 points to close at 6,430.76 points.
The broader All Shares index gained 27.44 to 3,587.90, the Financials index rose 66.27 to 2,051.14, the Industrial index surged 180.29 to 9,022.48, the Property index climbed 36.14 to 2,790.09, the Services index was up 6.27 to 1,839 and the Mining and Oil index added 40.92 to 8,238.10.
For the week, gainers managed to edge losers 118 to 110 and 27 shares while unchanged.
Top gainers were Roxas and Co. Inc., Pacifica Holdings Inc., Crown Equities Inc., National Reinsurance Corp. of the Philippines, Jackstones Inc.,Prime Media Holdings Inc. and Millennium Global Holdings Inc.
Top losers, meanwhile, were LMG Corp., Atok-Big Wedge Co. Inc., Apollo Global Capital Inc., Victorias Milling Co. Inc., AbaCore Capital Holdings Inc., House of Investments Inc. and East Coast Vulcan Corp.
This week
Share prices may end up higher this week, but volumes could be lower on a shortened trading week.
It will be a three-day trading week as there will be no trading on March 28 (Maundy Thursday) and 29 (Good Friday). Analysts said there may be “wild swings” in prices due to the quarter-end window dressing of companies.
“As markets officially bid adieu to first quarter, take stock of lessons learned in early 2024 to guide decisions for mid-year: more data points have tilted markets towards more positive outlook in both macro and corporate earnings, but it is also crucial to ground expectations and limit exposure to quality-pending actual rate cycle changes,” 2TradeAsia said,
Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said the local market closed last week with gains mainly on the back of reinforced Fed rate cut hopes. “However, the market still closed below its 10-day exponential moving average implying that it is having a hard time sustaining ground above the said line.”
“With this week’s shortened trading week, cautious sentiment is expected to linger which in turn could lead to a sideways movement for the bourse. Looking at other markets, Wall Street’s rally, if sustained, may give positive spillovers to the local bourse which could help it move with an upward bias. Meanwhile, the peso’s depreciation against the US dollar, if it continues, may weigh on market sentiment,” he said.
Chartwise, the local market may continue to test its 10-day moving average. The market’s support is still seen at 6,700 and resistance is at 7,000.
Stock picks
Maybank Securities gave a buy rating on Jollibee Foods Corp. as its net income report for last year came in line with consensus estimates.
“We cut our 2024/2025 earnings forecast by 9 percent and 4.5 percent to factor in higher effective tax rates and minority stakes and we roll forward our valuation base year to end-2024, which in turn raises our target price by 5 percent to P305.”
Jollibee shares closed last week at P262.20 apiece.
Meanwhile, the broker kept its buy rating on Enrique Razon Jr.’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp. after the company reached an agreement for a universal settlement with casino management firm Global Gaming Asset Management LLC (GGAM).
This requires the company’s unit to purchase 921.2 million shares held by GGAM in Bloomberry for $300m equivalent to P18.32 per share.
Bloomberry’s free float will decline by 8.1 points to 29.1 percent.
“We keep our buy on BLOOM as this presents a buying opportunity at its current 2024 earnings valuation of eight times,” it said.
Bloomberry was last traded at P11.04 apiece.
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