After two consecutive years of decline, the local stock barometer is widely forecast to climb this year notwithstanding what continues to be a challenging environment for the global community and sporadically distractive local political noise.
As President Duterte enters his first full year in office, his rhetoric and policy actions will face more intense scrutiny. After the honeymoon period, investors expect results and many are betting that the new CEO of the land can deliver.
Based on an Inquirer poll of 10 investment institutions, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) can end the year at a low of 6,650 to a high of 8,200. The average forecast for the PSEi is 7,612.50, suggesting a potential gain of 771.86 points or 11.28 percent from last year’s closing level of 6,840.64.
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
Corporate earnings growth forecasts averaged 8.28 percent, easing from an estimated average of 11 percent last year.
Mr. Duterte’s pledge to usher in a “golden age of infrastructure” in the Philippines is seen to offer a good story for the stock market under this administration, a follow-up to the economic turnaround and investment-grade rating story that fed the bulls during the regime of President Aquino.
