Technical buying to help stock market sustain its upward momentum thiswk

The stock market is likely to cluster within a tighter range this week although analysts said there is a strong possibility of sustaining its upward momentum on the strength of "technical buying."

"The market is actually on a support level. Right now, we're kind of soft but technically, we're very strong," Summit Securities head and former Philippine Stock Exchange chairman Harry Liu said.

He explained that based on the movement over the past two weeks of the 30-issue PSE Index or Phisix, the established barometer of market trading, the stocks were merely consolidating on the 1650 to 1700 level

Liu said the market, it appears, "is going through a short-term rise with the possibility of an upward pressure." "For the coming week, the market will remain volatile with an upside bias."

The Phisix ended barely one percent lower at 1681.72 pts. last Friday, Mar.31.

PCCI Securities and Brokers Corp. research director Gonzalo Bongolan said the market is expected to seek support at the 1630 to 1650 level while resistance is seen at 1750. The support level is the lowest point while resistance is the highest level the Phisix would possibly move within a given period.

"Right now, the market is indecisive but the trend has been basically on the slow uptick," he said.

Summit's Liu, however, cautioned that the upward bias "does not mean it (Phisix) will not go down."

"We have to be careful not to break 1600. If anything goes wrong, only then will it go below 1600," he added. The Phisix touched a 17-month low of 1602 in mid-February as the probe on bingo stock BW Resources escalated into a high-profile case that even dragged the Chief Executive into the picture.

Liu said investors were now more concerned on the developments in the macro-economic front such as the popularity rating of President Estrada, an impending Cabinet revamp and coup rumors, the peace and order situation in Mindanao, and the movement of oil prices both here and abroad.

He said on the basis of technical gains, recommended stocks for accumulation include blue chips PLDT, San Miguel, Ayala Land and Meralco, along with second tier issues such as Omico, PhilWeb and Leisure and Resorts Corp.

PhilWeb has been leading the pack of the newly-emerging tech stocks because of its rapid expansion moves and joint venture with some of the world's top Internet-related companies, among which are computer maker Compaq, investment firms Softbank and AIG, Net2Phone, ITXC Corp., Startech Holdings, and Infomatec AG.

Omico, a holding company controlled by associates of President Estrada, has a massive infrastucture project on the drawing board but its reported talks with an information technology company for a possible tie up and entry into the Internet business has been generating interest from the market.

Leisure and Resorts, meanwhile, has announced that it has partnered with SAGE Corp., a local Internet provider authorized by state gaming firm Pagcor, to bring bingo games into the Internet. Leisure owns the Bingo Bonanza chain popularly played in the country's top malls.