Technical rally keeps market afloat

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 44.29 points, or 0.58 percent, to finish at 7,577.57 yesterday as did the broader All Shares index which gained 27.72 points or 0.60 percent to 4,629.33.

Harry Liu, president of Summit Securities Inc., said the market is technically driven and is adjusting itself after soaring in the early part of the year.

“This market for me is technically driven. Now it is adjusting itself. It is waiting for the next good news to come in,” Liu said.

Analysts said investors remain on the sidelines as they wait for more market moving developments which may possibly come this week when the government reports the first quarter economic data.

Liu said the PSEi may move to the next support level to 7,700 from 7,500 previously.

“The way I look at it, a rally should come sooner,” he said.

However, he said, it’s a rally that won’t be enough to usher in the return of a bull market as investors still need to wait for better earnings results from corporates, and the government should be able to show first its strong performance.

“It will probably take at least six months for the market to stabilize,” he said.

For the sectoral counters, most closed in positive territory except for the financials index which ended in the red.

Total value turnover reached P7.233 billion. Advancing stocks totalled 98 while 96 issues declined. Forty-eight issues were left unchanged.