The stock market rallied Friday on bargain hunting, with select blue chips leading gainers.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 56.16 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,932.82 on total trade valued at P6.4 billion. Losers, however, beat gainers, 101 to 93, with 50 issues unchanged.
Energy Development Corp., the geothermal unit of the Lopez Group, surged 16 percent to P6.90 after announcing a foreign consortium offered to acquire up to 31.7 percent of its total outstanding voting shares, resulting in the eventual delisting of EDC. First Gen Corp., EDC’s parent firm, advanced 6.1 percent to P18.36.
Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., which is into power generation and distribution, banking, flour milling and property, climbed 3.4 percent to P74.95, while PLDT Inc., the biggest telecommunications company, rose 1.2 percent to P1,630.
The beleaguered US dollar, meanwhile, struggled to recover from a fresh slump Friday triggered by a report on the probe into alleged Russian interference in the US election.
The greenback was under sustained pressure against the Japanese yen, testing 110 in afternoon forex trade, as it also fell against the euro with soft US economic data adding to negative sentiment.
Analysts warned it could go lower still with US wages data out later Friday unlikely to offer much relief.
The emboldened yen, seen as a safe haven currency, dragged down the Nikkei, which closed 0.4 percent lower. Toyota later announced upward revisions in full-year profit as it forecast a downturn in the yen.
Shanghai drifted lower by the close of play as Chinese stocks lost momentum after a record 2017 close on Tuesday, while Hong Kong edged higher.
Sydney stocks declined as the central bank cut its growth forecast and expressed concern over the local dollar’s strength, but Seoul clawed back some losses endured Thursday after President Moon Jae-in announced plans to raise corporate taxes.
The revelation by the Wall Street Journal that special counsel Robert Mueller has convened a grand jury to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election”•a step towards possible criminal indictments”•sparked a furious reaction from President Donald Trump and dented gains on Wall Street.
The Dow still edged to a record for the seventh straight day Thursday, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq retreated.
“In no small way this yen strength is related to news that broke overnight that Robert Mueller has empaneled a grand jury as he continues to look into the Russia issue”•as the president called it,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist AxiTrader.
Stephen Innes, who heads Asia-Pacific trade at forex firm OANDA, noted: “Another toxic elixir for the greenback is brewing.”
The turmoil in Washington is casting doubt on Trump’s ability to push through an agenda aimed at boosting growth.
Traders were awaiting a key US jobs report that may provide clues on the strength of the world’s top economy and the odds of an additional Federal Reserve rate hike this year.
But Chris Weston, Australia-based chief market strategist at IG Markets, cautioned the figures were unlikely to bolster the dollar. With AFP