Stocks rose for a third day, extending a rebound from last week’s turmoil as investors tracked a strong lead from Wall Street.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 14 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 8,612.44 Thursday. It was also up 0.6 percent since the start of the year.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also picked up 2 points, or 0.06 percent, to settle at 5,075.60, on a value turnover of P10.7 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 147 to 68, while 42 issues were unchanged.
Nine of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by oil explorer PXP Energy Corp. which surged 39.7 percent to P12.32 and Apex Mining Company Inc. which jumped 18.8 percent to P1.77. Conglomerate Ayala Corp. rose 5.3 percent to P1,095, while infrastructure company Metro Pacific Investments Corp. gained 4.5 percent to P5.85.
Meanwhile, most Asian markets advanced in line with the movement of Wall Street. A key US inflation reading showed prices shot up in January, sending Treasury yields rising and fanning expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates at a sharper pace then expected a few months ago.
However, while the news initially sent US equities tumbling, they soon recovered and all three main indexes on Wall Street finished at least one percent higher, with dealers soothed by a surprisingly heavy drop in retail sales that eased inflation fears.
Global markets went into a tailspin last week on rising T-bill rates and the prospect of higher borrowing costs caused by a resurgent US economy and improving wages.
But this week has seen a recovery, though there remains an element of caution as analysts warn of further turmoil after a stellar 2018 and January that saw several record and multi-year highs hit.
As traders headed into the Chinese New Year break, Hong Kong ended 2 percent higher. The index rose 5.6 percent over the past three days, helping it bite into last week’s drop of more than nine percent.
Tokyo ended 1.5 percent higher, despite a surge in the yen against the dollar, which tends to hurt exporters.
Sydney and Singapore each rose 1.2 percent, while Wellington added 0.1 percent. Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta were also up.
Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at Oanda , said: “In seemingly absurd fashion, US equity investors ignored the inflationary signals and focused on weaker-than-expected US retail sales report.
“There is an increasing possibility that [incoming Fed boss Jerome] Powell may blink and the Fed will be more hesitant to guide monetary policy given the waning growth narrative,” Innes said.
On currency markets ,the dollar is taking a hit across the board, with the yen at fresh 15-month highs, while the euro built on Wednesday’s gains that came after figures showed solid German economic growth.
The greenback is coming under the cosh despite the strong inflation print.
“I’m not going to pretend I have a clue this morning,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
“Stocks have surged and the US dollar has been poleaxed. That’s even though the market expectations of a March hike increased,” McKenna said.
The dollar was also sharply down against most high-yielding units, including the Australian dollar, South Korean won, Indonesian rupiah and Thai baht.
With AFP, Bloomberg
