Local stocks rose Wednesday in line with the movement of other markets after robust US corporate earnings and rising Wall Street futures helped cheer investors.
The PSE index, the 30-company benchmark of the Philippine Stock Exchange, gained 19 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 6,148.31, as four of the six subsectors advanced.
The broader all-share index also picked up 13 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 3,266.62 on a value turnover of P4.15 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 94 to 87, while 44 issues were unchanged.
Six of the 10 most active stocks ended in the green, led by PLDT Inc. which jumped 7.5 percent to P1,590.00 and Globe Telecom Inc. which rose 4.1 percent to P2,400.00.
Meanwhile, the peso weakened Wednesday to close at 58.94 against the US dollar from the previous day’s 58.75 on trading volume of $654 million.
Japan’s stocks traded higher Wednesday. Benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.37 percent, or 101.24 points, to end at 27,257.38, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.19 percent, or 3.62 points, to 1,905.06.
Traders were also monitoring the yen as it sits around levels last seen in 1990 and edges towards 150 per dollar, with finance minister Shunichi Suzuki saying “we’ll respond appropriately against excessive moves”.
The greenback bought 149.33 yen, against 149.21 yen late Tuesday.
Investors in Japan took heart from an upbeat mood on Wall Street, where shares rallied on more positive earnings results.
All three main US indexes enjoyed back-to-back gains following forecast-beating results from Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson.
In other Asian markets, investors battled to push markets higher following another healthy run-up on Wall Street boosted by more positive earnings results that raised hopes for the reporting season.
While there is a more upbeat mood on trading floors for now, analysts warned that the current rally could soon turn as central banks press on with interest rate hikes aimed at fighting multi-decade-high inflation.
Traders were given an extra boost by news that Netflix gained more than two million subscribers in July-September, easing worries about the impact of rising borrowing costs on consumers.
“Earnings season offers investors the opportunity to focus more on the actual earnings power of corporate America, and less on the machinations of the backward-looking economic data stream,” Art Hogan, a strategist at B. Riley, said.
“A better-than-feared earnings season may well be the catalyst the market needs to see a break in the steady grind lower.”
Still, Asian markets were mixed, with Hong Kong tanking as investors were left unimpressed with city leader John Lee’s first policy speech, which laid out plans to boost the economy but also saw a vow not to let up on a security crackdown.
There were also losses in Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei and Bangkok, though Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Mumbai and Jakarta rose.
London edged down after the inflation reading and ahead of a keenly awaited Prime Minister’s Questions in parliament, the first since Liz Truss’s new finance minister tore up her controversial mini-budget that hammered markets last month. With AFP
