Stocks climbed Wednesday along with the rest of Asia as investors gave a cautious welcome to Russia’s pledge to “radically” wind down military activity around two cities including Kyiv, lifting hopes for a ceasefire in the month-long Ukraine war.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 51.93 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,167.02 on a value turnover of nearly P6.9 billion. Gainers beat losers, 106 to 81, with 44 issues unchanged.
International Container Terminal Services Inc., the largest port operator and owned by tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., gained 2.8 percent at P222, while Robinsons Land Corp. of the Gokongwei Group rose 2.5 percent to P20.50.
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. of the Ty Group, the second-biggest lender in terms of assets, advanced 2.3 percent to P55.65, while fiber broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. climbed 2 percent to P29.80
Most Asian markets also advanced Wednesday. Russia’s announcement, after talks between the two sides in Turkey, sparked a rally on US and European markets while sending oil prices tumbling.
Russia’s deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said there was progress on “the neutrality and non-nuclear status” of Ukraine—two central Russian concerns.
And Kyiv’s negotiator David Arakhamia said there were “sufficient” conditions for President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to meet in a push to end the crisis.
However, the excitement was tempered as world leaders greeted the news with skepticism, with Joe Biden saying he wanted to see if Moscow will “follow through” on a promise to de-escalate.
And the Pentagon said Putin had merely repositioned a “small number” of forces near Kyiv but could be preparing a “major offensive” elsewhere.
The strong gains on Wall Street and in Europe were largely matched in Asia, with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Taipei, Jakarta and Wellington all performing well. Tokyo bucked the trend by falling.
“The first sign of good news, no matter how tenuous, from the Ukraine-Russia talks resulted in a mass stampede into equities,” said OANDA’s Jeffrey Halley.
“Asian markets, as desperate for any good news from the Eastern front as anyone else, have reacted by rallying strongly.”
But there are warnings that traders may have run ahead of themselves.
Alexander Rodnyansky, an adviser to Zelensky, told Bloomberg TV: “It’s perplexing to some extent to see that markets are reacting as strongly as they are.
“The only thing that will bring them really to the negotiating table is the success of Ukraine on the battlefield and further economic pressure, in terms of sanctions.”
And Moscow-based political analyst Evgeny Minchenko added: “I think there was very serious misunderstanding of what both sides said in Istanbul after the talks.
“So far I just heard is that there will be less action near Kyiv and Chernigiv, because the Russian army is concentrating its resources against the Ukrainian army in (the eastern region of) Donbas.” With AFP