The stock market rose for the third straight day Thursday as bargain hunters pounced on cheap issues that have fallen sharply in recent days.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index jumped 83.99 points, or 1.3 percent, to 6,581on a value turnover of P6.1 billion. Gainers overwhelmed losers, 136 to 62, with 50 issues unchanged.
DITO CME Holdings Corp., the third major mobile phone company, advanced 5.7 percent to P10.36, while Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, climbed 3.9 percent to P132.
Basic Energy Corp. surged 24.7 percent to P0.91, while Semirara Mining and Power Corp. gained 11 percent at P13.32.
The rest of Asian markets rose Thursday but optimism over the pace of economic recovery continued to be offset by worries about rising infections across Europe and the continent’s vaccine struggles, with inflation concerns casting an ever-present shadow.
Asian investors pushed tentative gains in early trade Thursday following recent losses.
Tokyo rose more than one percent to snap a four-day losing streak, while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Bangkok and Wellington also climbed. But Shanghai dipped while Mumbai was more than one percent off.
Hong Kong dipped as investors kept a worried eye on the city’s already slow vaccine program after Pfizer/BioNTech shots were halted Wednesday following the discovery of flawed packaging.
After a year-long surge, global equities have run out of steam with expectations of a strong growth rebound stoking fear that prices will soar, forcing central banks to wind in the ultra-low monetary policies that have supported the rally.
And while the stock gains have been boosted by the rollout of inoculations—particularly in Britain and the United States—Europe’s stuttering launch has been compounded by a jump in new cases that has led to lockdowns and containment measures being reimposed.
That has many observers questioning whether its economy can recover as quickly as previously hoped.
US markets sank again Wednesday, led by a two percent drop in the Nasdaq as technology firms took a further hit from expectations the Federal Reserve will have to lift interest rates earlier than forecast, despite repeated pledges by policymakers that they will not budge.
Adding to the selling in New York were fears Joe Biden will look to hike corporate taxes to pay for his huge economic rescue packages, while a fractious meeting between US and Chinese officials last week indicated relations will not likely improve any time soon.
“When the short term wobbles, investors naturally start to fret about those lingering longer-term concerns,” said Axi strategist Stephen Innes.
“They are also hurting sentiment with renewed worries about US tax policy and a realisation that any lingering hope of a reset in US-China trade relations is unwarranted.
“The latter is quite a worrying proposition as the two economic behemoths draw battlegrounds, setting the stage for a real dust-up as the superpowers shift from vying for supply-chain domination to battling it out for global internet technology supremacy.” With AFP
