Stocks rose for a second day, following overnight gains on Wall Street which sent the Dow to a new record after fresh data showed further improvement in the US economy.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, picked up 36 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 6,873.31 Thursday. Despite the gain, the bellwether was still down 1.1 percent since the start of the year.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also advanced 21 points, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 4,170.64, on a value turnover of P6.2 billion.
Advancers outnumbered losers, 113 to 65, while 47 issues were unchanged.
Fifteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by property developer Megaworld Corp. which climbed 3.8 percent to P3.85 and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. which gained 3.3 percent to P73.
Meanwhile, the US dollar barreled ever higher Thursday, sitting at an eight-month high against the yen and fueling another rally in Tokyo stocks but traders in most other markets turned cautious.
US investors gave their Asian colleagues another strong lead with the Dow hitting a new record on Wall Street.
Global markets have largely been piling higher since Donald Trump’s shock election win two weeks ago, with traders betting his big spending, high tax plans will bolster an already healthy economy.
However, there are concerns among emerging market governments that his threats to tear up global trade deals could lead to an era of protectionism and throw up huge US tariffs.
“There’s a favorable bias to equities, given the expectations post Trump’s election that US growth will pick up as a result of more fiscal spending and a reduction in corporate tax rates,” Chris Green, director of economics and strategy at First NZ Capital Group in Auckland, told Bloomberg News.
The near certainty that Trump’s policies will fuel inflation, forcing the Federal Reserve to lift rates, has pushed the dollar higher.
On Thursday, it headed towards the 113 yen mark for the first time since April—touching 112.97 yen before easing—while it was also sharply up against most other units.
The tumbling yen lifted exporters on Tokyo’s Nikkei index, which ended 0.9 percent higher as it reopened after a day’s holiday.
But, while the across-the-board losses were pared elsewhere, traders remained cautious. Hong Kong fell 0.3 percent in the afternoon, Sydney ended flat and Seoul was off 0.8 percent. Singapore added 0.1 percent and Taipei slipped 0.3 percent.
Shanghai ended flat. Jakarta dropped more than one percent and Bangkok dipped 0.1 percent.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve policy meeting this month showed most board members thought a rate hike would be appropriate “relatively soon”. And those thoughts were backed up by figures showing a surge in durable goods orders.
“The US economy is showing all the signs of being in great shape even before the addition of any Trump stimulus,” AxiTrader chief market strategist Greg McKenna said in a note.
High-yielding Asia-Pacific currencies took a beating as investors removed their cash to seek out better returns in the US. South Korea’s won fell 0.3 percent and the Australian dollar slipped 0.7 percent while there were also sharp losses for the Indonesian rupiah, Thai baht, New Zealand dollar and Malaysian ringgit. With AFP, Bloomberg