Geopolitical risks to weigh on PSEi

Geopolitical risks are again casting a pall of gloom over global markets, with the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) unlikely to close unscathed this week.

Trading platform 2TradeAsia.com sees the local bourse nearing the 6,500 level.

“Inflationary pressure and geopolitical risks are starting to permeate global markets deeper [and] central banks are going less aggressive on previously communicated rate cut paths,” 2TradeAsia said over the weekend.

Last Friday, the benchmark PSEi closed at 6,780.13. While this is up 1.55 percent week-on-week, the local stock barometer had a higher value mid-week. However, escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine erased the PSEi’s gains by Friday, thus ending the trading week in the red.

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed to foreign press on Friday that they had fired a missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Escalating geopolitical conflict was among the reasons why the PSEi sank to 6,100, its lowest closing value this year.

Still, 2TradeAsia said the monetary policies of consumption-driven economies such as the Philippines “still have room to budge” and, therefore, boost consumer and investor confidence.

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The country’s gross domestic product growth is seen to be at around 6 percent next year, and this could help improve the overall outlook for Philippine corporations, 2TradeAsia added.

“Earnings have so far been in line with expectations, and with the fourth quarter looking to track some of the preserved momentum, excluding weather-related impairment, decent-to-significant alpha can still be achieved in the medium term despite dour market sentiment,” it said.

2TradeAsia sees the PSEi’s support level at 6,500 and resistance at 7,000.