Stocks rallied Tuesday on bargain hunting and improving COVID-19 situation in the country, ignoring the slump in the rest of the region amid the escalating tension in Ukraine.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 68.66 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,440.91 on a value turnover of P12.8 billion. Losers, however, edged losers, 98 to 94, with 54 issues unchanged.
Citicore Energy REIT Corp., the first energy-focused real estate investment trust company, surged 11.4 percent to P2.84 in its market debut, while DITO CME Holdings Corp., the third major mobile phone player, climbed 4.4 percent to P6.90.
SM Investments Corp. of the Sy Group advanced 4.1 percent to P895, while International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator and owned by tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. increased 3.8 percent to P220.
Equity markets in Asia, meanwhile, plunged while oil and haven assets rallied Tuesday after Russia’s Vladimir Putin ordered troops into two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, ramping up geopolitical tensions and fears of a conflict.
The jump in oil is compounding worries about inflation around the world, with the Federal Reserve coming under intense pressure to tighten monetary policy to prevent prices running out of control.
That has in turn battered equity markets in recent months, and the latest developments out of Europe led to another day of hefty selling Tuesday.
Russia’s MOEX index plunged eight percent at the open, having lost 10 percent Monday, while London, Paris and Frankfurt tumbled in early exchanges.
In Asia, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai and Taipei dived at least one percent, while there were also losses in Bangkok, Jakarta and Wellington.
Hong Kong tanked 2.7 percent owing to a selloff in tech firms as traders again fret over the possibility China will embark on another crackdown on the sector.
Investors were sent running after Putin recognized the independence of two rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Lugansk and sent in “peacekeeping” forces.
The move came hours after the Kremlin appeared to pour cold water on a potential summit with US President Joe Biden and led to condemnation from world leaders and warnings Moscow would be hit with a series of sanctions.
Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that Moscow’s gambit “would not go unanswered.”
The White House said Biden would issue an executive order to “prohibit new investment, trade, and financing by US persons to, from, or in” the two rebel regions.
A French presidential official said the European Union was preparing a list of Russian entities and individuals to sanction in a “proportionate” response to the recognition.
The European Union said it would adopt sanctions later Tuesday.
The prospect of war and strict sanctions sparked concerns about the impact on supplies of a range of commodities from the region, including oil, wheat and nickel.
Crude—already up more than 25 percent this year on surging demand—piled higher still on Tuesday, with Brent closing in on the $100 mark for the first time since 2014.
Hopes of an Iran nuclear deal, which could see Tehran resume global oil exports, were unable to temper the gains. With AFP
