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PHILIPPINE share prices are likely to touch fresh highs on the back
of positive economic data and strong corporate earnings, dealers
said Friday.
They said good news was outweighing the bad,
which added to the market’s overall positive sentiment in recent
trading sessions.
For the week to October 11, the composite index
rose 48.29 points or 1.28 percent to 3,824.20 points. Financial
markets here were closed Friday for a religious holiday.
Average daily turnover fell to 4.6 billion
shares worth P4.625 billion from 6.94 billion shares worth P6.7
billion the previous week.
“Some investors consider the current price
levels a good entry point as they anticipate the index will test
recent highs as soon as next week,” said Lawrence de Leon of
Accord Capital Equities.
“There is more good news than bad news going
around right now so overall sentiment remains positive. The market
is also historically strong during the fourth quarter so we’ll
likely see more gains,” he added.
Francisco Liboro of PCCI Securities said the
Philippines is on track for higher economic growth this year “and
this should translate to sustained robustness in corporate earnings
growth.”
Credit Suisse has slapped an “overweight”
rating on the Philippines property sector as it expects low interest
rates and strong demand to sustain the robust growth of real-estate
companies.
“We find that the sector is ideally positioned
for strong growth, with the country’s positive macro indicators
heavily stacked in its favor,” Credit Suisse analyst Gilbert Lopez
said in a research note released Thursday.
Confirmation of solid corporate profits growth
and sustained economic expansion in the three months to September
could fuel another major stock rally past the 4,000-point level,
Liboro said.
“We are entering the third quarter earnings
reporting season so the market will most likely take its cue from
the third quarter earnings reports,” said Jose Vistan of AB
Capital Securities Inc.
Vistan warned that third quarter figures might
not be as rosy as in previous quarters “seeing as how we had the
sub prime crisis hitting the market at around that time.”
--AFP
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