The stock market bounced back Tuesday on bargain hunting after the index plunged to a six-and-a-half month low Monday.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index surged 202.97 points, or 3 percent, to 7,019.92 on a value turnover of P9.6 billion. Losers, however, outnumbered gainers, 138 to 76, wit 36 issues unchanged.
BDO Unibank Inc. of the Sy Group, the biggest lender in terms of assets, advanced 4.5 percent to P129.70, while sister unit SM Prime Holdings Inc. climbed 4.1 percent to P39.
Major property developer Ayala Land Inc. of the Ayala Group rose 4 percent to P35.40, while parent Ayala Corp. gained 3.9 percent at P 789.
The rest of Asian equity markets fell Tuesday, with Hong Kong tech firms leading another collapse in the city’s Hang Seng Index following the COVID-19 shutdown of tech hub Shenzhen and worries over Russia’s military outreach to China.
The Hang Seng Index dived more than six percent on Tuesday as the tech index around eight percent.
Afternoon selling wiped out a minor bounce from data out of China suggesting the economy started 2022 on a positive note.
Shanghai was also in trouble, losing five, while Sydney, Seoul, Mumbai, Taipei, Jakarta, Bangkok and Wellington were also well down, though Tokyo and Singapore rose.
Concerns about China’s economic outlook saw oil prices suffer fresh selling pressure, with WTI falling back below $100 a week after it hit a 14-year high on the back of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Hopes for progress in talks to bring an end to the war in eastern Europe were also putting pressure on the black gold.
Global markets have been in a spiral since Russian troops marched into the neighboring country, leading international powers to impose crippling sanctions on the country and numerous companies to pull out.
The measures have fanned concerns about the supply of commodities from the region, particularly oil, sending prices through the roof and ramping up fears that already high inflation would run out of control and shoot a hole through a fragile economic recovery.
Among the hardest-hit markets has been Hong Kong, which was already under pressure from China’s regulatory crackdown on technology firms as part of the government’s move to tighten its grip on the economy.
News that US authorities were also looking to crack the whip over Chinese firms listed in New York sparked a rout last week. And the selling continued Monday after news emerged of the Shenzhen lockdown.
The Hang Seng Index dived Monday as the Hang Seng Tech Index was pummeled 11 percent after China said it would lock down Shenzhen to contain a Covid-19 outbreak.
Another trouncing came later in the day in New York, exacerbated by news that Putin had asked China for military assistance in its battle in Ukraine.
Traders are fretting that Chinese companies could face sanctions or delisting if Beijing reacts positively to Russia’s plea.
China’s foreign minister said Beijing did not want to be impacted by Western sanctions on Russia, state media reported Tuesday. With AFP
