Stocks rebounded Friday from another sell-off, following overnight gains on Wall Street, but investors remain on edge over oil prices and growth slowdown in China.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 40 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 6,449.50, after falling to a two-year low early in the week. The gauge was also down 7.2 percent since the start of the year.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also advanced 22 points, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 3,698.00 on value turnover of P5.6 billion. Gainers matched losers at 88 each, while 39 issues were unchanged.
Twelve of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by developer Robinsons Land Corp., which climbed 5.5 percent to P25. Universal Robina Corp., the food manufacturing arm of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., picked up 2.2 percent to P187.
SM Investments Corp., the holding company of tycoon Henry Sy, rose 1.9 percent to P809, while property developer Ayala Land Inc. added 1.5 percent to close at P30.75.
Meanwhile, most Asian stocks also closed higher Friday, which followed a rally in oil prices, upbeat earnings reports and comments from a key Federal Reserve official suggesting it could hold off another interest rate rise.
Global markets have seen trillions of dollars wiped off valuations since the start of the year, hit by slumping oil prices as well as worries about a growth slowdown in China, and Beijing’s bungled handling of the crisis.
However, the past week has been less grueling that last week, when China’s decision to weaken the yuan’s dollar value several times sent markets into freefall.
Friday saw most regional bourses tick cautiously higher, with Tokyo up 0.7 percent, Sydney adding 0.1 percent and Seoul adding 0.2 percent. There were also gains in Singapore, Wellington and Taipei.
Hong Kong, however, slipped 0.5 percent. Shanghai was 1.2 percent lower after a near two percent gain Thursday with speculation that government cash was used to support key state-backed companies.
“Asian markets look set for a bounce today, but its sustainability is still an open question,” Angus Nicholson, a Melbourne-based market analyst at IG, said in an email to clients.
“The big unknown today is whether we have seen a sustainable bounce in Chinese equities and whether yesterday’s gains can be held onto,” Nicholson added. Witha AFP
