Philippine stocks inched up Thursday on last-minute bargain hunting and the recovery of the peso against the US dollar.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index picked up 4.11 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 6,539.02. The broader all-shares index also rose 4.55 points, or 0.12 percent, to reach 3,731.78.
“The local bourse gained 0.06 percent to close at 6,539.02 as investors positioned themselves ahead of the final trading session of the year,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
Limlingan said the widening of the budget deficit also weighed on the market.
The Bureau of the Treasury reported that the Philippines recorded a budget deficit of P213 billion in November, bringing the 11-month deficit to P1.18 billion.
Indices ended mixed. Property rose 0.87 percent, followed by financials which rose 0.41 percent, industrial by 0.08 percent and mining and oil by 0.05 percent.
Services declined 0.43 percent, and holding firms by 0.40 percent.
Value turnover was weak at P2.22 billion as investors are still on vacation mode. Foreign investors were net buyers, with net inflows reaching P73.10 million.
This helped push the value of the peso to 57.97 against the US dollar Thursday, up from 58.45 on Dec. 23.
Manufacturing giant Universal Robina Corp. was the top stock gainer, rising 6 percent to P79.50, while San Miguel Corp. was the main index loser, declining 6.45 percent to P82.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks rose in thin Boxing Day trade on Thursday, extending a “Santa Rally” with key markets Hong Kong and Sydney still shut for the holidays.
Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 1.1 percent, boosted by comments from the Bank of Japan governor and share price gains for top-selling automaker Toyota.
China’s plans for massive bond issuances in 2025 also bolstered investor sentiment.
“Even though many in the region are still shaking off a bit of a holiday hangover, with several markets closed for Boxing Day, Asian stocks opened higher, riding a favorable wave from China’s financial bond juggernaut,” said Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management.
Shanghai, Bangkok and Taipei all edged up 0.1 percent, while Seoul lost 0.4 percent and Singapore shed 0.1 percent. Jakarta and Wellington were closed.
London Stockton, an analyst at Ned Davis Research, noted that the “Santa Claus rally could still be alive, with strong seasonality into the end of the year.”
Stock markets have traditionally fared well in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in the new year, a trend known as the “Santa Claus rally”.
Among a number of possible reasons advanced by experts include the festive holiday mood and purchasing ahead of the end of the tax year.
Innes said remarks from Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda in which he refrained from signaling a potential interest rate hike next month also “influenced bullish regional sentiments”.
Japanese market heavyweight Toyota ended nearly six percent higher after reports in the Nikkei business daily said it aimed to double its return on equity — a key measure of a company’s financial performance.
In thin corporate news on Thursday, Japan Airlines reported a cyberattack that caused delays to domestic and international flights and prompted a temporary halt to ticket sales.
However later in the day the carrier said its systems had been restored after the “large data attack”.
Markets had been closed across Europe and North America for Christmas. Dow Jones closed up 0.9 percent on the eve, while the tech-heavy S&P 500 rallied 1.1 percent. With AFP
