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Philippines: Soft market as investors await inflation data
MANILA, Philippines — Market activity has generally been soft and will continue to stay as such as investors await vital economic data on inflation for March.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is set to release no later than April 5 the inflation report for March.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas forecasts inflation in March to settle within 7.4 to 8.2 percent. The central bank’s projection is lower than the 8.6 percent inflation print recorded in February.
Last week, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index rallied for three straight days as investors banked on the upside of waning banking sector concerns and growth in approved investments for the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), according to a report by Unicapital Securities.
By the end of the week, however, the PSEi gave up its gains as it fell by 102 points to 6,499, down 1.55 percent week-on-week.
Moving forward, Unicapital said the index is poised to clear the 6,600 resistance level, barring any negative catalysts.
It sees macroeconomic headwinds softening sequentially, which progressively unlock more upside in the coming months.
Likewise, in the US, major indexes continued to rise as investors assessed the worst of the regional bank crisis has passed.
This week, there will just be three sessions due to the Lenten holiday break.
Thus, 2TradeAsia expects “thin volume as lack of stronger catalysts encourage wait-and-see mode until after Easter.”
It sees immediate support at 6,400, with resistance at 6,750 to 6,900, with March inflation as a factor in the coming weeks.
“March inflation will be released next week – the print will be critical as this would dictate the tone for monetary policy in the second quarter and the BSP forecasting a decline is indicative of authorities general optimism versus the first quarter,” it said.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2023/04/03/2256343/soft-market-investors-await-inflation-data