Stocks rose Friday ahead of a much-anticipated central bankers’ meeting, joining the rest of the regional market.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 10.21 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,015.14 on value turnover of P6.2 billion. Gainers and losers were even at 97 each, with 48 issues unchanged.
Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp. climbed 2.6 percent to P8.98, while Bloomberry Resorts Corp. advanced 3.4 percent to P10.94. The two casino resort operators registered hefty profits in the second quarter.
Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. surged 3.8 percent to P6.37, while Nickel Asia Corp., the biggest nickel miner, gained 3 percent to P7.30.
The rest of equity markets in Asia, meanwhile, advanced at the end of a broadly upbeat week.
The rises came despite ongoing ructions in Washington where President Donald Trump on Thursday berated top members of his Republican party, days after threatening to shut down the government and rip up a key trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
His ongoing battle with Capitol Hill has fanned fears the tycoon will not be able to push through his promised tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure spending program, which many believe would help fire up the US economy.
Tokyo’s Nikkei ended 0.5 percent higher thanks to a weaker yen.
Hong Kong rose 1.2 percent, marking a fourth-straight day of gains, while Shanghai added 1.8 percent. Energy firms in both cities were lifted by news that PetroChina’s net profit jumped more than 2,000 percent to $1.9 billion in the first half and that it would distribute the cash among shareholders in the form of dividends. The move fueled hopes of similar moves by other energy companies.
Seoul rose 0.1 percent, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics losing more than one percent after company heir Lee Jae-Yong was jailed for five years for bribery, perjury and other crimes linked to the corruption scandal that brought down ousted president Park Geun-Hye.
However, Singapore shed 0.3 percent and Sydney was flat.
In early European trade London, Paris and Frankfurt each rose 0.2 percent.
Heads of central banks from around the world are descending on Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for their annual symposium but investors are focusing on Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen and European Central Bank (ECB) head Mario Draghi.
While not expecting any major announcements from either, their remarks will be pored over for clues about their plans for monetary policy in two of the world’s biggest economies.
“With announcements expected from both in the coming months, investors will be looking to their speeches at Jackson Hole”•a platform used to prepare markets for policy changes by previous Fed Chairs Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke”•for similar policy signals,” said OANDA senior market analyst Craig Erlam.
The euro has rallied in recent weeks on speculation the ECB will begin to wind down its crisis-era stimulus measures as the eurozone continues to improve, while still-soft US inflation has dented expectations of further Fed interest rate hikes this year.
However, the single currency has dipped back slightly this week as dealers steel themselves for the weekend’s meeting. With AFP