Stocks rose for a second day, after another record close on Wall Street but dealers were cautious after the recent Donald Trump-fueled rally.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, picked up 60 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 6,866.81 Wednesday.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also gained 36 points, or 0.9 percent, to settle at 4,153.06, on a value turnover of P5 billion. Losers edged advancers, 89 to 88, while 47 issues were unchanged.
Fifteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by property developer Arthaland Corp. which soared 48.5 percent to P0.49 and DoubleDragon Properties Corp. which climbed 8.2 percent to P38.95. Arthaland raised P2 billion from the issuance of preferred shares to support expansion.
GT Capital Holdings Inc., the investment company of tycoon George Ty, advanced 4.1 percent to P1,247, while conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. added 4 percent to close at P74.90.
Meanwhile, most Asian markets also traded higher Wednesday. After the surge in recent weeks, trading floors have quietened leading up to the year-end as investors try to gauge what a Trump presidency will look like.
“Right about now investment committees all over the investing universe have been sitting down trying to work out exactly what Trumponomics means for not only the nations of Asia and other emerging markets but also assets classes they invest in,” Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader, said.
Recent comments from the tycoon suggest he will push on with many campaign pledges, and McKenna said: “For Asia that means more pressure in 2017 and more money flowing from regional markets back toward the US.”
The last big new event of the year comes up next week when the Federal Reserve holds its next policy meeting.
While it is widely tipped to lift interest rates, its statement will be pored over for clues about future policy in light of an expected surge in government spending by Trump which would likely fan inflation.
Traders are also keeping an eye on a European Central Bank meeting Thursday, when analysts say they expect it to extend a stimulus programme beyond its planned March finish, providing further buying support.
In early trade, Hong Kong was up 0.2 percent while Tokyo went into the break 0.4 percent higher although Shanghai fell 0.3 percent.
Seoul and Singapore each added 0.1 percent while there were also mild gains in Taipei and Kuala Lumpur.
Sydney also rose 0.7 percent despite data showing Australia’s economy shrank in July-September on-quarter at the sharpest rate in eight years, hit by weak consumer spending and soft trade. The Australian dollar fell about half a US cent to 74.25 cents on the news.
The latest figure raised the possibility the country could enter a technical recession for the first time in a quarter of a century if it posts a second successive quarter of contraction in October-December.
But Annette Beacher, head of Asia-Pacific research at TD Securities in Singapore, told Bloomberg News: “We’re still confident that this is just a perfect storm of negatives and we shouldn’t be talking about technical recessions—we should be talking about what rebound we can expect for the fourth quarter.” With AFP, Bloomberg