PSEi retreating as investors prep for GCash IPO - analysts

MANILA, Philippines - The local stock market could further retreat over the next two weeks, with investors selling their shares to pile up capital to place on the initial public offering (IPO) of e-wallet giant GCash.

Reyes Tacandong & Co. senior adviser Jonathan Ravelas yesterday said investors may pull away from the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to assess their next trading move.

Ravelas said the PSEi right now is displaying every symptom that its investors are preparing for two things: the possibility of a US Fed rate hike and the IPO of GCash's parent Mynt Inc.

"The market is in a hand-to-hand combat between positivity and uncertainty, and now people are weighing what would be Mynt's pricing. When the market consolidates, the market is thinking of something," Ravelas said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay.