LAST week: It was a slow week for the stock market with the PSE index ending at 2,940.98 Friday, a loss of 42.06 points or 1.41 percent week-on-week. Trading volume was below P3 billion as investors found a lack of encouraging leads how to play the market.  

THIS week: According to AB Capital Securities, with no leads expected from local developments, what happens in the US will largely determine how the PSEi will go this week.

“Several companies are set to release first quarter earnings this week and they will be the key to unlocking how the markets will move. Better than expected results will serve as catalyst for rallies especially… from companies such as JPMorgan… [as]better results will mean that the economy is in better state than what the companies thought while lower than expected results will mean the opposite,” it stated in its weekly outlook.

A wait and see attitude will still be the mode this week. “The market is expected to move flatly with trading range between 2,900 and 3,000. Trading activity will stay steady below the P3-billion level,” it added. 

STOCKS to watch: Traders, meanwhile, are banking on blue-chip stocks such as Ayala Corp., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc. as these stocks are resilient enough to weather volatility in the market. 

BELLE Corp., a listed real-estate developer, is in talks with SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) to operate a casino in Bagong Nayong Pilipino Manila Bay Integrated City Project.

SM units topped market’s gainers and losers last week

THE week ended April 11 belonged to the SM group of companies. Two of its units dominated the market’s biggest gainers and worst performers.

PUBLICLY traded Chemrez Technologies Inc. (ChemrezTech) said its net profit for 2007 jumped 409 percent to P480.6 million from P94.4 million a year earlier.

SAN Miguel Corp. (SMC) pared anew the price range per share for its brewery’s initial public offering (IPO) to P8 to P11 apiece to attract investors in a falling market.

THE Philippine Stock Exchange index Friday declined 14.13, or 0.5 percent, to 2,940.98 at the close, rounding a 1.4-percent loss last week.

LAST week: It was a slow week for the stock market with the PSE index ending at 2,940.98 Friday, a loss of 42.06 points or 1.41 percent week-on-week.

The country’s first koi or Japanese carp hotel is being constructed in Hacienda San Benito in Lipa, Batangas.