The stock market surged Friday as investors tracked advances on Wall Street following reports US President Donald Trump is planning to unveil a big-spending public works plan.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index advanced 129.77 points, or 1.6 percent, to 8,304.70 on a value turnover of P6.7 billion. Gainers overwhelmed losers, 121 to 66, with 50 issues unchanged.
Conglomerate Ayala Corp. rose 3 percent to P1,030, while property unit Ayala Land Inc. climbed 2.1 percent to P43.
Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, jumped 5.9 percent to P144, while GT Capital Holdings Inc. of tycoon George Ty gained 3.1 percent to P1,175.
The rest of Asian markets rallied on Friday, bringing a volatile week to a positive end as tech firms extended their rebound.
Global equities have struggled this week, hit by profit-taking, fears over the progress of a probe into Russia’s US election meddling, stumbling Brexit talks and President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The issues had overshadowed news that Senators had passed a market-friendly US tax overhaul bill and were preparing to hammer out a compromise with the House of Representatives.
Traders were given a positive lead from New York, where all three main indexes ended higher, with reports saying the president hopes to present an infrastructure plan to Congress early next month.
In Asian trade, Tokyo ended 1.4 percent higher, extending Thursday’s 1.5 percent rise, helped by a weaker yen as well as a forecast-busting reading on Japanese economic growth.
The economy grew twice as fast as previously estimated, officials said, thanks to rising exports and increased spending by Japanese firms on equipment and facilities.
Hong Kong rose 1.2 percent and Shanghai added 0.6 percent following data showing exports and imports grew more than expected in November. Sydney put on 0.3 percent, Singapore climbed one percent and Seoul was up 0.1 percent.
Trump’s promises of tax cuts, $1 trillion in infrastructure spending and deregulation helped spur a global equities and dollar rally after his election as investors bet they would fire up the already healthy economy.
“While the US economy is booming, President Trump’s long-standing pledge may be upon us as infrastructure spending at both a federal and state (level) could be a real game-changer for the dollar,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA.
He forecast an upsurge in business investment as a result could “propel the US economy to four percent growth.”
The gains were helped by a surge across tech firms, which has suffered heavily from profit-taking this past week as dealers shift into sectors likely to benefit more from the US tax cuts.
Among the biggest winners was AAC Technologies in Hong Kong, which soared 5.5 percent, while Tencent was almost four percent higher. Samsung and Sony were also much higher.
On currency markets, the dollar pushed up against most other units, with eyes now on the release of US jobs data later in the day, which could provide further clues about the Federal Reserve’s plans for interest rates in 2018. With AFP