Shares prices are expected to remain volatile this week on concerns the current stricter mobility restrictions could be extended due to continued spike in COVID-19 infections.
Analysts said investors will be monitoring government’s next action on quarantine restrictions as COVID-19 cases in many parts of the country continue to increase and as hospital utilization rate remains high.
“To extend or not to extend current quarantine measures that is the question, especially as Delta variant cases have been continuously rising. Looking at the regional peers, Thailand and Vietnam had to extend by at least two weeks, making the case for an extension very likely at least until COVID-19 suddenly reverses for the better,” online brokerage firm 2TradeAsiacom said.
“The likelihood of the index retesting the 6,200 support level, a crucial pitstop over he past six months, remains high, especially in the face of possible quarantine restriction in areas near the capital,” it added.
But analysts are expecting bargain hunters to be actively pick up stocks that have been battered last week after a steep decline.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week plunged 3.4 percent to 6,320.19, while the broader All Shares Index sank 1.9 percent to 3,976.94 as investors reallocated funds ahead of the MSCI rebalancing.
All sub-indices ended in the negative, led by holding firms (-4.07 percent) and property (-1.39 percent).
Foreign investors, however, were net buyers for the week by P637.7 million, while the average daily value traded jumped to P10.4 billion from the previous week’s average of P4.9 billion.
Weekly price gainers were Manila Electric Co. which rose 5.1 percent to P290; Aboitiz Power Corp., which climbed 4.5 percent to P24.20; and Megaworld Corp., which advanced 3.3 percent to P2.80 each.
Weekly losers were JG Summit Holdings Inc., which dropped 9.8 percent to P55; Puregold Price Club Inc., which declined 6.2 percent to P102.30; and San Miguel Corp., fell 6.1 percent to P102.30 .
