PSEi seen moving in 6,300-6,600 variety
Wendy Estacio-Cruz, research head at Unicapital Securities Inc., stated last Friday the index may move within the 6,300 to 6,600 variety today. This, after the number of unemployed Filipinos in April increased to 2.06 million from 1.93 million in March. Joblessness rate went up from 3.9 percent to 4.1 percent, the worst in three months.
Investors will likely react to the nation’s even worse unemployment rate this week while likewise keeping an eye out for global trade developments. Wendy Estacio-Cruz, research head at Unicapital Securities Inc., stated last Friday the index might move within the 6,300 to 6,600 range today. This, after the number of unemployed Filipinos in April increased to 2.06 million from 1.93 million in March. Joblessness rate increased from 3.9 percent to 4.1 percent, the worst in three months. Recently, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) managed to recover after two consecutive weeks of losses, ending higher by 0.56 percent at 6,376.79.
Traders will also keep an eye out for developments in US trade policies, according to Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc. While the local bourse is undervalued– implying that there is much room for a rally– Tantiangco mentioned that sentiment “remains bearish due to lingering global trade uncertainties.” Last week, global markets reacted to US imports falling due to US President Donald Trump’s “Independence Day” tariffs, although the 90-day pause remained in place.
Still, Tantiangco noted that cooler May inflation might “raise hopes of more aggressive policy easing by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which, in turn, may give the market a boost.” Inflation last month decreased to 1.3 percent from 1.4 percent in April due to lower utility costs. This is still below the government’s target range of 2 to 4 percent. So far, the BSP has lowered the benchmark rate for overnight lending by 25 basis points this year to 5.5 percent.
Register for our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I accept the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.