Lackluster mood seen to prevail in stock mart this week

A cloud of uncertainty continues to hover around the stock market as the political scandal that threatens to rip the Estrada administration apart, threatens to drag on and add to the economic woes of a slipping peso and a ballooning budget deficit.

Irving Ackerman of I. Ackerman and Co. said the market is still under intense pressure from the slew of domestic problems and last Friday’s rebound in the US stock markets might hardly be cheered upon.

In fact, he noted that while US equities sank to year-lows on Thursday, sending most Asian markets on a tailspin, the local bourse surprisingly bucked the trend.

"It’s an unusual thing. It seemed some buyers decided it’s time to pick up stocks whose values have become so low," he said. There have been reports the spate of buying was induced by the state pension funds to give the market a much-needed lift.

The Phisix staved off a five-day retreat – punctuated by breaching the 1,300 barrier to slump to a two-year low – inching up almost five points to 1,323.65 last Friday.

Since the index is a choice basket of the highest capitalized stocks, buying centered on blue chips led by PLDT, Ayala Land, Ayala Corp., San Miguel B, La Tondeña, SM Prime, Metrobank, BPI, PNB and Equitable PCI Bank.

Ackerman pointed out that with hardly any foreign investments coming in, trading will continue to be lackluster this week, except for selected positioning on a few stocks.

The peso collapsed to a new historic low of P48.50 to a dollar last Friday, ending the week on a steep downhill plunge and losing over P2 in a mere five-day span.

But Ackerman pointed out the peso’s slide could well be a catalyst for other stocks such as mining issues and those with strong export potentials.

"We can start looking at the mining sector whose products are sold for dollars. This gives them a good hedge on their investments," he said.

In fact, the mining counter has been the most resistant to the general downswing during the past week as stocks like Lepanto Consolidated, Philex Mining and Benguet posted gains in their share prices.