PHILIPPINE STOCKS dropped on Monday, with the benchmark index settling below 7,000 on profit-taking as investors await the release of key economic data at home and in the United States.
“Philippine stocks were sold ahead of the January inflation print tomorrow, and investors kept cash with many awaiting the latest economic updates globally,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message on Monday.poll of 15 economists conducted last week yielded a median estimate of 7.6% for January headline inflation, close to the lower end of the 7.5% to 8.3% forecast given by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Aside from the inflation report, employment and foreign direct investments data will also be released this week, he said.“The local stock market gauge corrected lower for the second day in three days, considered healthy profit taking, after the dollar-peso exchange rate corrected…,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
Mr. Ricafort said the market also priced in the government’s offer of retail Treasury bonds that starts on Tuesday, as it “could siphon off some of the excess liquidity from the financial markets and from other alternative investments.”