Dragon will spur prosperity
Things will be better in 2024, PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said, as he cited reforms that will be instituted to further perk up trading.
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Daily Tribune
Things will be better in 2024, PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said, as he cited reforms that will be instituted to further perk up trading.
Economic indicators for next year are diverging for the Philippines and most of the rising Asian tigers and the rest of the world, including developing nations.
While the Philippines expects at least six percent growth for the next two years, the Western world is struggling to have positive growth due to geopolitical tensions.
The performance of the equities market in the region mirrors a mixed bag of confidence from Japan's benchmark, which touched a 33-year high, Hong Kong suffering its fourth straight year of decline, and India emerging as a hot place for initial public offerings.
China, on the other hand, continues to be a disappointment as its economy continues to have substandard growth after the pandemic.
The local stock market remains flat even with last year's array of IPOs. Among bourses in the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines landed right in the middle with about 2 percent growth.
The local bourse remains one of those expected to offer more promising returns with the operator Philippines Stock Exchange, or PSE, cranking up its campaign to pull in small investors to become the market's main lifeblood.
According to the PSE, the local bourse will be propelled by the projection that the country's growth will lead the ASEAN region with the highest GDP expansion in 2024 at 6.2 percent against Vietnam's 6 percent, Indonesia's 5 percent, Malaysia's 4.6 percent, Thailand's 3.3 percent and Singapore's 2.5 percent based on the outlook of the Asian Development Bank.
The data on inflation is also favorable, with a projected 4 percent next year, which will be an improvement from this year's average of 6.9 percent as of the end of November.
The index closed at 6,450.04 points at the last trading day of the year, down 1.8 percent from last year's finish of 6,566.39 points.
Things will be better in 2024, PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said, as he cited reforms that will be instituted to further perk up trading.
The PSE had three IPOs in 2023, while other capital-raising activities included five follow-on offerings, five stock rights offerings, and 11 private placements.
"Despite the challenging conditions encountered by the stock market this year, we believe that positive macroeconomic indicators for the country in 2024 will result in better corporate earnings, which in turn will propel the market to higher levels," Monzon added.
Analysts project PSEi at a range of 6,800 to 8,300 points, but they said risks to the positive outlook remain, such as the potential impact of higher transport charges, electricity rates, and international oil prices.
Monzon, nonetheless, said the list of high-profile IPOs, such as Citicore Renewable Energy Corp and more Real Estate Investment Trusts, are expected to fuel bourse activity.
Investors consider the bourse, right or wrong, as a gauge of the stability of the country that has been experienced during the previous regimes, including those that had resulted in an abrupt change in leadership.
It does, however, reflect the perception of capitalists on the country, which is usually a precursor to both good and bad tidings.
With the steadily high survey ratings of President Bongbong Marcos and the booming economy, only an external shock will prevent the stock market's momentum from reaching greater heights of prosperity in the year of the Wood Dragon.
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