The stock market surged Tuesday after Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen said the US economy was still in good shape and any increase in borrowing costs would be slow and low.
The Philippine Stock exchange Index rose 112.32 points, or 1.5 percent, to a near 13-month high of 7,710.54 on a value turnover of P10.2 billion. Gainers beat losers, 126 to 81, with 39 issues unchanged.
Aboitiz Power Corp. advanced 6.3 percent to P48.90, while Metro Pacific Investments Corp. climbed 4.4 percent to P6.40.
Ayala land Inc. gained 2.8 percent to P38.95, while Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fastfood chain, increased 2.6 percent to P239.
The rest of Asian stocks advanced. After Friday’s well-below-forecast US jobs report raised worries about the country’s growth—and sent the dollar and Wall Street tumbling—Yellen said that while the figures were “concerning” she was still upbeat about the outlook.
Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.6 percent, while Sydney added 0.2 percent and Seoul was 1.3 percent higher. Hong Kong surged 1.4 percent.
Singapore put on 0.8 percent. In the first few minutes of European trade London climbed 0.4 percent, Frankfurt added 0.7 percent and Paris gained 0.5 percent.
In her closely watched speech, Yellen she urged markets not to “attach too much significance to any single monthly report,” adding that the overall jobs market was “quite positive”.
She gave no indication when the central bank would again raise interest rates but said any move would be gradual.
Friday’s news that the US economy in May created less than a quarter of the jobs expected eroded expectations for a rate rise in June or July—as had been strongly hinted by the Fed—and caught traders off guard. With AFP
