MANILA – Retail investors are turning bullish on the stock market despite concerns about the May elections and coronavirus resurgence as the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) is expected to end the year at 8,400, according to an online stockbroker.
COL Financial Investment Management president Marvin Fausto cited results of their investor sentiment survey indicating that the majority or 82 percent of them will be increasing their investments in the next three to six months.
“There are concerns on elections and of course the virus but for as long as the conduct of the election is acceptable and then the healthcare is not compromised, the economy will grow, businesses will recover, this help break the consolidation in the market, leading us to higher levels,” Fausto said in a virtual press briefing Monday.
COL chief equity strategist April Lynn Tan said some people are still cautious with the stock market given the uncertainty as to when the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic ends.
“There is a possibility that being too cautious about Covid-19 is not going to be good because Covid-19 could become endemic already. The increasing vaccination rates in other countries caused them to reopen faster and to relax all their restrictions,” she said.
Tan said the Philippines is also learning to live with the virus, citing that traffic went up to the pre-pandemic level in the fourth quarter of 2021 when the National Capital Region (NCR) was placed under Alert Level 2.
“The third quarter GDP (gross domestic product) and the corporate earnings were actually better than expected and we saw a ‘V-shaped recovery’ and again this might be due to rising vaccination rate which has made people more confident in going out and of course the government loosening quarantine restrictions, allowing even children to go out,” she added.
Tan also considered the May elections a “non-event”.
“If you are too cautious, maybe you will be left out,” she said. “What do investors really want to happen during the election? I think what is important is that we have a clean and honest election where people will actually accept the outcome that there is no cheating –that is the will of the people. And I think what is important is the candidates’ economic policy.”
Meanwhile, Tan said their 8,400 PSEi target this year is based on a bottom up target, supported by positive Philippine developments.
“We feel that the reopening of the Philippine economy will drive economic growth faster and drive profit higher,” she said.
The PSEi ended its last trading for 2021 at 7,122.63. (PNA)
