The fourth State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) was recently given by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. In response, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 0.10% to 6,627.36, a move of 6.34 points.
Only industrials and holding firms fell 0.96 and 0.60%, respectively, while the rest were in the green. PHP4.7 billion stocks traded hands, reaching a trading volume of 864.057 million.
"Most of the investors are awaiting for market-moving news," said Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc. The slight recovery in share prices was also part of market consolidation, he added.
Meanwhile, Jun Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities expected that the market will receive no significant boost from the SONA despite Aquino's previous speeches being marked with high gains.
"This could be another case of the market 'overtalking itself' with the popular belief that a resoundingly received address from the chief executive -- popular or not -- impacts on share prices not showing up in the data, depriving the observation," Calaycay said. It could also mean that "investors take a longer time to digest the SONA, thus the lag in discounting the message encapsulated thereat," he added.
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