This week at the bourse: A battle of wiles

Traders wanting to lock in profits may yet rain on the parade of more bullish investors who brought the stock index closer to 6,800 last week.

The latter may want to focus on the rallying peso and a clearer sign of a rate cut to fuel an ascent this week, an analyst said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) closed last Friday at 6,791.69, up by 2.15 percent from the previous week, marking four consecutive weeks in the green.

The index is now up 3.62 percent from 6,554.04 at the start of the year.

Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at Philstocks Financial Inc., said profit takers were expected to slow down the market’s climb this week.

He said investors hanging on to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) dovish stance on policy rate cuts may be able to counter the profit takers.

Policy rate is currently at 6.5 percent, but the Monetary Board is projected to slash this by a total of 50 basis points this year.

Tantiangco also noted the strengthening peso against the US dollar may also “provide aid to the bourse.”

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The local currency closed trading at P58.335 against the greenback on Friday after spending weeks near its record low of P59.

The analyst said investors would also be on the lookout for a rush of first half income reports.

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands opened the new income season last week after reporting record profits during the first semester.

Philstocks sees the market’s support at 6,700 and resistance at 7,000. —MEG J. ADONIS INQ