PSEi seen testing 6,450
Local stocks may continue to stabilize this week after bargain hunting helped the benchmark index recover from recent lows, although global risk-off sentiment and domestic growth concerns are expected to keep trading cautious.
Last week, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) closed at 6,328.97, up 1.7 percent or 105.61 points from the previous session, trimming most of the prior day’s 2.1-percent decline.
The recovery lifted the index from three-week lows and brought it near its highest level in over five months, according to brokerage 2TradeAsia.
Despite the rebound, the local market remained defensive as sentiment was weighed down by a hawkish pause from the US Federal Reserve and a weaker-than-expected 3-percent fourth-quarter 2025 gross domestic product print—the slowest quarterly growth since the 2021 pandemic recovery.
Property stocks led sectoral losses last week, falling 4 percent, while holding firms slipped 0.7 percent.
In contrast, mining and oil stocks rose 4 percent, while financials gained 1.8 percent as investors rotated into selective names.
2TradeAsia said volatility remained elevated amid heightened geopolitical tensions and global “flight-to-safety” trades, with investors favoring gold, US Treasuries and hard currencies.
The brokerage noted that peso weakness and rising import costs could limit the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ room for further rate cuts despite slowing growth.
