By Alexandria Grace C. Magno, Reporter<\/p>\n
PHILIPPINE SHARES may remain under pressure this week as rising bond yields, a weak peso and inflation concerns temper prospects for a rebound, with investors also awaiting economic data and the pricing of GCash\u2019s initial public offering (IPO).<\/p>\n
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 1.67% or 95.95 points to 5,825.97 on Friday, while the broader all-share index gained 1.11% or 35.49 points to 3,246.21.<\/p>\n
Week on week, however, the PSEi fell by 29.94 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the index near oversold levels, we see some scope for a short-term bounce, although elevated bond yields and continued peso weakness could cap the upside,\u201d COL Financial Group Research Analyst Denise Joaquin said in a Viber message.<\/p>\n
Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, research manager at Philstocks Financial, Inc., said the market continued to have a negative bias after hitting a year-to-date low of 5,730.02 last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile current levels are considered bargains, and fundamentals remain intact, the bearish case remains strong as other markets move unfavorably against local equities, while overall macroeconomic conditions remain discouraging,\u201d he said in a Viber message.<\/p>\n
Mr. Tantiangco expects the PSEi to test the 5,800 level, placing support there and resistance at 6,000.<\/p>\n
The index closed at 5,730.02 on Thursday, its lowest finish in more than 10 months.<\/p>\n
Ms. Joaquin said investors this week would take cues from the release of August US personal consumption expenditures inflation data and the Philippines\u2019 September purchasing managers\u2019 index.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso in focus will be the pricing of the GCash IPO on Oct. 1, which could influence sentiment and liquidity in the local market,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Mynt, Inc., the financial technology company behind GCash, plans to offer up to 1.61 billion primary shares and 6.42 billion secondary shares, with an overallotment option of as many as 1.2 billion secondary shares.<\/p>\n
The company last week said it had secured commitments from more than 20 global and domestic cornerstone investors for the proposed offering, subject to final pricing and other conditions.<\/p>\n
GCash\u2019s final offer price is expected to be set on Oct. 1 following the bookbuilding process.<\/p>\n
Mr. Tantiangco said the PSEi was trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.3 times as of Friday, below its five-year average of 14.4 times.<\/p>\n
Global and domestic risks could nevertheless continue to weigh on equities, he said.<\/p>\n
Uncertainty surrounding tensions between the US and Iran has kept oil prices elevated, with benchmark Brent crude remaining above $100 a barrel, Mr. Tantiangco said.<\/p>\n
The peso also remains weak despite recovering last week, potentially pushing inflation higher.<\/p>\n
It gained 27 centavos to P62.465 against the dollar on Friday from Thursday, according to Bankers Association of the Philippines data.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, both global and local treasury yields continue to rise,\u201d Mr. Tantiangco said. \u201cThis makes fixed income securities more attractive compared with equities.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said inflation remained a key concern amid elevated oil prices, the weak peso and rising inflation expectations, while potential El Ni\u00f1o conditions posed risks to food supply.<\/p>\n
Recent cuts to Philippine economic growth forecasts have also weakened confidence in the country\u2019s expansion outlook, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Alexandria Grace C. Magno, Reporter PHILIPPINE SHARES may remain under pressure this week as rising bond yields,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[231825,72,113,61,60],"class_list":["post-637609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-alexandria-grace-c-magno","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}