The stock market rallied Friday on bargain hunting, lifted by select blue chips that were oversold in previous sessions.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained 66.16 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,583.52 on a value turnover of P5.5 billion. Losers, however, beat gainers, 98 to 91, with 58 issues unchanged.
Conglomerate Ayala Corp. surged 6.7 percent to P999. The company earlier reported that net income climbed 7 percent in the first half to P16.1 billion from a year ago on the solid performance of the real estate, telecommunications and power businesses.
Manila Electric Co.,the biggest retailer of electricity, advanced 3.4 percent to P363, while mass housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. rose 3.7 percent to P7.79.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. added 1.7 percent to P36.
The rest of Asian markets were on the rise Friday following strong leads from Wall Street and Europe, with investors cautiously optimistic about upcoming US-China trade talks.
Negotiators from Washington and Beijing will meet later this month in the first publicly announced meeting in weeks on their bitter trade dispute, which has seen both sides impose reciprocal tariffs on goods worth $34 billion.
The news helped global markets regain composure after several days of volatility sparked by fears that Turkey’s financial crisis could infect other economies.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 0.35 percent higher, and Sydney ended up 0.2 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.4 percent and Singapore rose 0.3 percent in afternoon Asian trade, but Shanghai was down 0.6 percent.
Despite the positive wave through world markets after several nervous days, analysts have said a quick resolution of the trade spat between the world’s top two economies is unlikely, with more US tariffs in the works on more Chinese goods.
Markets were “cautiously optimistic” about prospects of resolving the trade war after Beijing announced it would send a representative to Washington, although Rodrigo Catril of National Australia Bank noted the “relatively low rank of the negotiators” meant reaction was guarded.
But despite the tough talk, “there are reasons for both sides to come to a resolution,” Adam Reynolds of Saxo Capital Markets told Bloomberg TV.
And fears about Turkey’s financial crisis also persist, despite the recent stabilization of the lira, as a diplomatic row with the US shows no signs of abating.
Washington has already imposed economic sanctions on Ankara over the detention of an American pastor, and threatened more if he is not released.
Meanwhile, the positive sentiment on Wall Street that impacted Friday’s Asian trade was boosted by Walmart’s strong earnings.
Plane maker Boeing and industrial machinery giant Caterpillar—two companies seen as especially vulnerable to the US-China trade war—were up too.
With a mixed mood in the markets after a troubled week, investors have taken positions in safer stocks as tensions have not completely subsided, analysts say. With AFP