Share prices ended higher yesterday, echoing movements among its regional counterparts following a surge on Wall Street as robust US economic data and more policy stimulus boosted sentiment.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up by 17.51 points to close at 6,884.77, a 0.26 percent hike.
Gainers edged losers 97 to 76 with 57 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P6.02 billion.
The peso, meanwhile, closed at P50.585 to the dollar, down from Wednesday’s close of P50.551. It opened at P50.60, hitting a high fo P50.575 and a low of P50.64. Trading turnover reached $945.45 million.
SB Equities Inc., said the market took the lead from the “more than 1000-point jump” in Wall Street overnight to close up.
“Philippine stocks advanced further on Thursday on optimism over stimulus from various governments and the IMF to combat any COVID-19 induced economic slowdown, while domestic inflation was also reported to have risen slower than anticipated,” it also said.
Most actively traded SM Prime Holdings Inc. was steady at P39.50 while SM Investments Corp. gained P5 to close at P950.
Telco giant PLDT Inc. was up by P28 to close at P1,043. Ayala Land Inc. was down by P0.35 to P40.40 while Metro Pacific Investments Corp. was steady at P3.44.
Services sector activity in the United States jumped to a one-year high in February, data showed, and the House of Representatives passed a $8.3 billion emergency spending to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
“The prospect of the Fed starting a global easing cycle… and ramped up US fiscal firepower to fight COVID-19 were catalysts for equity markets to front-run economic relief”, Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist at Mizuho Bank, said in a note.
The US Federal Reserve eased interest rates earlier this week, joining a global effort to shield growth from the virus epidemic, which has upended supply chains, travel and production across the globe.
Wall Street surged overnight, after a strong performance by former Vice President Biden in the Democratic nomination campaign, as he is considered less likely to raise taxes and impose new regulations than rival Bernie Sanders.
Leading gains in Southeast Asia, Thai stocks rose as much as 1.8 percent to hit their highest level in a week.
Data showed that the country’s headline consumer price index in February rose 0.74 percent from a year earlier, but stayed below the central bank’s 1 percent-3 percent target range, allowing room for rate cuts at its meeting scheduled later in the month.
The trade-sensitive Singapore index gained as much as 0.8 percent, buoyed by financials and industrials.
Index heavyweights Capitaland Ltd and Mapletree Commercial Trust jumped nearly 2 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
The Vietnam index strengthened on gains in energy stocks after oil prices rose.
Petrovietnam Gas Joint Stock Corp and Vietnam National Petroleum Group were 1.7 percent and 0.8 percent higher, respectively. — Ruelle Albert Castro, Reuters
