The stock market rebounded Wednesday on bargain hunting, taking a cue from a surge in Wall Street overnight.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained 117.14 points, or 1.4 percent, to 8,667.56 on a value turnover of P9.1 billion. Gainers overwhelmed losers, 127 to 82, with 47 issues unchanged.
Casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. advanced 5.8 percent to P12.80, while Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, climbed 5.7 percent to P165.80.
Major property developer Ayala Land Inc. rose 2.7 percent to P45.20, while parent Ayala Corp. increased 2.9 percent to P1,034. Now Corp. gained 4.1 percent to P6.83. Now has expressed interest to bid for the third telecommunications slot to challenge the duopoly PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.
A rebound across Asian markets, meanwhile, ran out of steam Wednesday, with most falling back into the red and extending the previous day’s hammering.
Traders had started the day on a bright note as they took their lead from a surge on Wall Street and ate into Tuesday’s deep losses.
The gains, which saw Tokyo and Hong Kong jump sharply, came as analysts said they had expected a pullback following months of rises that sent world markets to record or multi-year highs.
However, as the day wore on selling began to kick in. By the end of the day Tokyo had added just 0.2 percent—having opened almost three percent up—while Shanghai lost 1.8 percent and Seoul plunged 2.3 percent.
Singapore was down 0.6 percent and Hong Kong shed 0.5 percent in the afternoon, extending a more than five percent loss in Hong Kong Tuesday. Wellington, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur also fell, though Sydney held up to close 0.8 percent higher while Taipei climbed 1.4 percent.
Asian trading floors were a sea of red Tuesday after a record one-day points drop on the Dow sparked panic selling, wiping billions from valuations on worries about rising US interest rates.
Profit-taking also played a big role in the retreat after the buying euphoria, fueled by optimism in the world economy and strong corporate earnings.
But while markets stutter, analysts remain upbeat.
“The pullback may be considered a healthy correction,” Candice Bangsund, a fund manager in Montreal at Fiera Capital, told Bloomberg News.
“The favorable conditions that have underpinned the stock market rally over the last year remain largely intact at this time—the global expansion continues and corporate earnings remain in acceleration mode.”
And Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader, said: “At the moment, the safe bet is that this was part of the so-called ‘sell-off we had to have’.”
With dealers looking to safer assets Wednesday the dollar resumed its falls against the yen, while it pared morning losses against higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar, South Korean won and Thai baht.
Energy firms across Asia saw sharp afternoon selling on Wednesday, with PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinopec all performing a U-turn in Hong Kong, while Inpex in Tokyo and Woodside Petroleum in Sydney saw morning gains slashed. With AFP