PSEi seen moving in 6,300-6,600 range

MANILA, Philippines –  Investors will likely react to the country’s worse unemployment rate this week while also watching out for global trade developments.

Wendy Estacio-Cruz, research head at Unicapital Securities Inc., said last Friday the index may move within the 6,300 to 6,600 range this week.

This, after the number of unemployed Filipinos in April increased to 2.06 million from 1.93 million in March. Unemployment rate went up from 3.9 percent to 4.1 percent, the worst in three months.

READ: Philippine unemployment rate hits 4.1% in April

Last week, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) managed to bounce back after two consecutive weeks of losses, ending higher by 0.56 percent to 6,376.79.

Apart from higher unemployment rate, traders will also watch out for developments in US trade policies, according to Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc.

While the local bourse is undervalued—entailing that there is much room for a rally—Tantiangco pointed out that sentiment “remains bearish due to lingering global trade uncertainties.”

Last week, global markets also reacted to US imports plummeting as a result of US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, although the 90-day pause remained in place.

Still, Tantiangco noted that cooler May inflation could “raise hopes of more aggressive policy easing by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which, in turn, may give the market a boost.”

Inflation last month eased to 1.3 percent from 1.4 percent in April due to lower utility costs. This is still below the government’s target range of 2 to 4 percent.

So far, the BSP has cut the benchmark rate for overnight borrowing by 25 basis points this year to 5.5 percent.