The stock market closed nearly flat Wednesday, lifted by a rally in water-related issues that posted sharp losses in recent days.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 3.22 points, or 0.04 percent, to 7,733.67 on a value turnover of P7.8 billion. Gainers edged losers, 93 to 91, with 59 issues unchanged.
Manila Water Co. Inc. surged 14.2 percent to P6.85, while DMCI Holdings Inc. climbed 9.6 percent to P5.93.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll roads, water and electricity distribution, hospitals and infrastructure, advanced 9.4 percent to P3.49, while Globe Telecom Inc., the biggest telecommunications firm, rose 3.1 percent to P2,042.
The rest of Asian markets stuttered Wednesday as investors took their foot off the pedal after the recent trade deal-fueled rally, while sterling extended losses after Prime Minister Boris Johnson fanned fresh fears of a no-deal Brexit.
The region was given yet another strong lead from Wall Street, where all three main indexes clocked up more records following healthy US housing and industrial output data.
The mood across trading floors remains upbeat following last week’s long-awaited agreement that will see US tariffs lowered, and observers said that while details of the pact remain thin, the year looks set to end on a positive note.
The US data was encouraging as it was “very unclear that the improvement in trade sentiment—hence a better global outlook—is going to translate into real positive economic momentum immediately”, said Stephen Innes at AxiTrader.
“But it’s probably safe to say things shouldn’t get worse after the tariff rollback. And with the global data apparently bottoming, investors are playing from a much stronger hand than initially imagined.”
Tokyo ended down 0.6 percent, Hong Kong fell 0.1 percent, Shanghai finished off 0.2 percent and Seoul was also down.
Sydney, however, edged up 0.1 percent, Singapore and Mumbai gained 0.3 percent and Taipei added 0.2 percent. There were also gains in Bangkok, Jakarta and Wellington.
“The price action suggests that the interim trade-deal induced rally may be taking a well-earned rest for now, after the impressive climb in stocks of the last few days,” said OANDA’s Jeffrey Halley.
Johnson’s decision to outlaw an extension to the Brexit transition past 2020 continues to drag on the pound, with the unit now down around three percent from the recent peak it hit Friday after his landslide election victory.
Sterling soared to multi-month highs in the wake of the win, fanned by relief at the end of years of political uncertainty in Westminster that meant the prime minister could push his Brexit agreement through parliament.
But Johnson’s decision will give him just 11 months to hammer out a full-blown trade pact with the European Union, which most commentators say is not enough.
Rodrigo Catril at National Australia Bank said the premier was in “a stronger negotiating position” but warned next year could be “a volatile one for the pound.”
“A hard Brexit cannot be ruled out, but the probability of a positive Brexit resolution has also increased,” he said. With AFP
