Stocks surged to an 11-month high Wednesday, following another record close on Wall Street, boosted by rising commodity prices.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, climbed 65 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 8,037.51, as five of the six major sectors advanced. It was the bellwether’s highest finish since it closed at 8,051.40 on Aug. 10, 2016. The index peaked to 8,127.48 on April 10, 2015.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also gained 26 points, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 4,779.80, on a value turnover of P8.2 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 98 to 94, while 60 issues were unchanged.
Sixteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by oil exploration firm PXP Energy Corp., formerly Philex Petroleum Corp., which surged 18.5 percent to P3.58, after President Rodrigo Duterte announced a plan to allow joint exploration of West Philippine Sea by Philippine and Chinese companies.
Megaworld Corp., one of the largest developers, climbed 5.5 percent to P4.98, and conglomerate LT Groups Inc. rise 3.3 percent to P18.28.
Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly rose on Wednesday, led by energy giants on rising commodity prices, while traders were also buoyed by strong earnings and positive economic data that saw Wall Street rack up fresh records.
Improving demand and the weakening dollar helped fuel a jump in copper prices to five-month peaks, while oil has also been boosted by a report pointing to lower US stockpiles.
Both crude contracts jumped 3 percent Tuesday with traders also cheered by news that global crude producers, meeting in Russia Monday, called for stricter adherence to an agreement to cut output.
Big-name energy firms flew on Wednesday, with BHP up more than three percent and Rio Tinto 2.6 percent higher in Sydney, while Hong Kong-listed CNOOC and PetroChina were up around three percent. Tokyo’s Inpex and JXTG Holdings piled on more than one percent.
“Things are looking a little bit better,” Michael Loewen, a strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto, told Bloomberg News. “If we continue to see demand do well and some refined products draws in gasoline and distillates, the market should perform pretty well.”
But the long-term outlook for oil could be weak without deeper output curbs by OPEC, said Richard Gorry, managing director at industry consultant JBC Asia.
Prices are currently supported by the summer driving season which ramps up demand but that trend will reverse from early September as consumption weakens, he added.
On stock markets, Tokyo ended 0.5 percent higher, while Hong Kong added 0.2 percent in the afternoon and Shanghai closed up 0.1 percent. Sydney ended up 0.9 percent and Singapore was 0.3 percent higher. There were losses in Seoul and Taipei.
Investors tracked a record for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in New York and another strong day of corporate results, including from McDonald’s and construction giant Caterpillar.
Support also came from a series of positive readings from Europe and the US.
Greece enjoyed a successful return to the debt markets after a three-year absence, while a closely watched index of German business confidence hit an all-time high for July.
That was followed by a reading of US consumer sentiment also moving towards record levels after falling for two months in a row. With Bloomberg, AFP