The market made an unexpected confusing downward swirl starting two weeks ago from its upward spiral after entering bull territory on September 23, as if it was spooked by the scary witching hour of Halloween, which we just incidentally celebrated last weekend.
Come to think of it, the market was hit by a string of losses since the breakout. By the end of October 31, 2024, the market could be seen at the 7,142.96 level, down with overall losses equivalent to 274.29 points or 3.7%.When trading resumed this week, the market continued to respectively suffer from losses on Monday and Wednesday.
Likewise, foreign investors changed their trading stance. They became more of net buyers than net sellers. Together with their bigger market participation and trading value turnover, this diffused the selling pressure in the market which mostly came from local investors. Not for long, this trading stance of foreign investors turned local investors to become net buyers. This enabled the market to reach its breakout point.
Investors also shrugged off the threats of geopolitical conflicts and even disregarded serious thoughts — especially with our bothersome problem with China in the West Philippine Sea — of aAndro Leo “Andoy” Beltran, vice president, First Metro Securities of the Metrobank Group aptly captured the overriding reasons why the market can’t just take off. To begin with, inflation and interest rates continue to be a concern. Inflation in October rose to 2.
Beltran also went on to say that the serious implications of the current geopolitical tensions has intensified. The geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Europe, and Southeast Asia can’t just be ignored anymore. They have the potential to seriously disrupt global supply chains and commodity prices that will put pressure in the resurgence of high inflation.
As in the case of Beltran, Roxas feels stocks under the banking and financial sector will end as big winners. They make good profits under a high-interest rate regimen. The gaming business likewise always yields good profits as in the case of PLUS. The power business, meanwhile, always produces steady income. Investing in OGP, on the other end, allows one to enjoy the comforts of holding gold, a commodity that has proven overtime as safe investment especially in tumultuous times.