Philippine stocks rose Monday as tension over trade eased slightly after US President Donald Trump excluded imports of smartphones and laptops from higher tariffs.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index advanced 63.08 points, or 1.04 percent, to close at 6,145.52, while the wider-all shares index inched up by 6.13 percent, or 0.17 percent, to reach 3,627.89.
“Philippine shares traded quietly in the green as investors slowly accumulated ahead of the Holy Week break,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
Markets will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
All indices, except for the financial sector, which declined 0.51 percent, ended in the green.
Services jumped 2.25 percent on easing trade tension, while property index rose 1.73 percent on expectation of continued monetary easing.
Trading value thinned to P3.1 billion as Holy Week approaches. There were 106 advancers versus 83 decliners, while 49 names were unchanged.
Bloomberry Resorts Corp. emerged as the top gainer, rising 5.38 percent to P2.95. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. declined 1.51 percent to P71.90.
Most Asian markets also rose Monday as trade war fears were tempered by Donald Trump’s announcement of tariff exemptions for electronics, although the dollar weakened and safe-haven gold hit a fresh record amid fears the relief would be short-lived.
After the wild gyrations witnessed last week, markets got off to a relatively stable start following Friday’s news that the White House would exempt smartphones, semiconductors, computers and other devices from painful “reciprocal” levies.