MANILA (Thomson Financial) - Philippine shares may open higher on Monday as
the market plays catch-up to big gains on Wall
Street last Thursday but concerns about the health of the US economy will
continue to hound
investors as they return from a four-day weekend.
Local financial markets were closed Thursday and Friday for the Easter
break. The Dow
Jones industrial average rose 2.2 percent on Thursday following a
milder-than-expected drop in a regional manufacturing report. Wall Street was
closed on Good Friday.
"Risk aversion remains as there are still concerns about the economy and the
financial market in the US. Trading will remain thin as investors are waiting to
see how effective the recent measures that the Federal Reserve has undertaken
will be," said Prince Anthony Yeung, analyst at AB Capital Securities.
Philippine shares advanced for the first time in five sessions last
Wednesday as investors grabbed bargains. The 30-company composite index gained
40.16 points or 1.5 percent to close at 2,817.58.
Market heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co's (PLDT) American
Depositary Receipts advanced by nearly 1 percent on Thursday.
The day before, Moody's Investors Service announced after trading hours that
it had changed its outlook on PLDT to positive from stable, citing the company's
ability to fund record levels of capital expenditure internally and also
increase returns to shareholders without increasing leverage.
The government also announced after trading hours on Wednesday a budget
deficit of 13.9 billion pesos for January, less than half the deficit it
incurred a year earlier because of lower interest payments.
enrico.delacruz@thomson.com
ed/ms
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