Stocks rose Monday, bucking the trend in other markets, ahead of the release of third-quarter corporate earnings and following reports that remittances continued to post solid growth.
The PSEi, the 30-company benchmark index of the Philippine Stock Exchange, gained 65 points, or 1.1 percent, to close at 5,970.33, as four of the six subsectors advanced.
The broader all-share index also went up 20 points, or 0.7 percent, to settle at 3,198.63 on a value turnover of P6.6 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 87 to 76, while 49 issues were unchanged.
Eight of the 10 most active stocks ended in the green, led by SM Investments Corp. which jumped 4.9 percent to P799.00 and DMCI Holdings Inc. which added 4.3 percent to close at P10.60.
Remittances, which account for about a tenth of the gross national income, grew 4.3 percent in August, supporting the positive outlook for consumer spending in the country.
Meanwhile, Asian markets started the week in mixed fashion as Friday’s rally petered out.
The latest strong US inflation reading ramped up bets that the Federal Reserve will hike borrowing costs by 75 basis points twice more before the end of the year, stoking concerns the world’s top economy will flip into a recession.
All three main indexes on Wall Street finished sharply lower Friday.
There was a little disappointment among investors after Chinese President Xi Jinping at the weekend reasserted his commitment to the zero-Covid strategy of lockdowns that has hammered the economy this year.
“We expect that the existing Covid measures, that is the number of Covid tests, quarantine days, etc, will remain the same after the Party Congress,” said Iris Pang at ING.
“This will continue to put fiscal pressure on local governments, and when the number of Covid cases increase, we should keep seeing localised lockdowns.”
Traders are also keeping tabs on looming earnings reports, with expectations that higher rates and prices will have eaten into companies’ bottom lines.
Eyes are also on Tokyo as the yen sits around a three-decade low against the dollar owing to US rate hike expectations and the Bank of Japan’s refusal to tighten monetary policy, citing a need to support the economy.
The yen is approaching 150 to the dollar for the first time since 1990, but while officials have said they are keeping tabs on developments, they have yet to intervene in markets for a second time, having done so last month.
European stocks opened higher Monday, after the UK government unexpectedly announced that it will later unveil some taxation and spending plans to ease markets turmoil over its botched debt-fueled budget.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.2 percent to 6,871.29 points, after the Treasury revealed that some of its fiscal measures will be announced two weeks earlier than originally scheduled.
The British pound advanced against the dollar on the news, while 30-year UK bond yields fell back.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX index was almost flat at 12,440.18 points and the Paris CAC 40 won just 0.1 percent to 5,936.22, compared with Friday’s close. With AFP
