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Philippine Stock Exchange in Taguig City.  Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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Lady Vicencio

<p>MANILA -- Unicapital Securities lowered its year-end forecast for the Philippine Stock Exchange, expecting the index to close at the 7,000 level from an earlier projection of 7,200.</p><p>In a press briefing on Wednesday, Unicapital Head of Research Wendy Estacio-Cruz explained the adjustment reflects a more conservative outlook on the pace of interest rate cuts by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/8/15/bangko-sentral-cuts-interest-rates-819" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bangko Sentral cuts interest rates by 25 bps, another rate cut this year likely</a></div><p>“We were expecting up to 75 basis points rate cut for the year. We had the first 25 bps this month. So, we’re expecting more probably [in] October or December. Hence, the decline in our index target,” Cruz said. </p><p>It added that stock prices are expected to draw gains this year with earnings per share (EPS) growth projected at 11 percent.</p><p>Unicapital Group President and CEO Jaime Martirez shared optimism for the market to make a gradual recovery back to pre-pandemic levels as lower interest rates should boost consumption as inflation eases.</p><p>“It’s starting to pick up as I see it. When you see interest rates right now, there’s a gradual shift right now to equities. I’m not saying that it has normalized but somehow, when we’re seeing now further reduction in interest rates by the BSP, then we should see more interest right now. More momentum going towards equities market,” Martirez said.</p><p>The independent financial services provider also sees investments picking up with easing interest rates.  </p><p>The PSE index ended at 6,958.01 at the close of Wednesday&#x27;s trading.</p><p>For the property sector, lower mortgage rates for residential properties are anticipated to increase demand by the first quarter of 2025.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/3/7/still-a-good-time-to-be-property-developer-in-ph-propertyguru-1225" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Still a good time to be property developer in PH: PropertyGuru</a></div><p>Properties outside Metro Manila are more in demand, prompting prices to rise faster compared to properties in the metro.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/business/10/26/23/demand-for-real-estate-picking-up-outside-metro-manila" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Demand for real estate picking up outside Metro Manila</a></div><p>Residential sales are seen to rise by 9 percent in 2025. Leasing businesses are also projected to expand with the demand for Business Process Outsourcing companies rising by 70 percent.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/7/11/property-sector-seen-weathering-potential-pogo-ban-1709" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Property sector seen weathering potential POGO ban</a></div><p>The strong BPO demand is expected to offset the impact of the government’s ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations. But Unicapital sees the ban to have a “negligible impact” on its covered property stocks as most of these companies have minimal exposure of office space to POGO.</p><p>Hotel occupancy is also seen to improve by 2 percent on the back of more tourist arrivals this year. </p><p>For 2024, Unicapital projects the Philippine economy to grow by 5.8 to 6 percent, treading on the lower end of the government’s growth target.</p><p>While growth is expected to be driven by higher consumer spending and government spending through infrastructure projects, headwinds loom such as geopolitical tensions and if interest rates remain elevated. The Philippine economy <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/8/8/philippine-gdp-grows-6-3-percent-in-2nd-quarter-926" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">grew</a> 6.3 percent in the 2nd quarter of the year <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">amid a construction boom.</span></p><div><span id="isPasted"><strong>RELATED STORY:</strong></span></div><div><span id="isPasted"><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SvPHzHxjb0g?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></span><br/></div>

<p>Unicapital Securities lowered its year-end forecast for the Philippine Stock Exchange, expecting the index to close at 7,000 from an earlier projection of 7,200.</p>

Unicapital Securities lowered its year-end forecast for the Philippine Stock Exchange, expecting the index to close at 7,000 from an earlier projection of 7,200.

Unicapital lowers PSE forecast but sees pick up in investments

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Unicapital lowers PSE forecast but sees pick up in investments

Lady Vicencio

Published Aug 28, 2024 06:08 PM PHT

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