Philippine shares rallied for a fourth consecutive day Friday, lifted by global stock gains and optimism about further monetary easing.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index, or PSEi, rose 30.87 points, or 0.50 percent, to close the week at 6,264.49. The broader all-shares index climbed 6.36 points, or 0.17 percent, to 3,740.81.
The peso depreciated further against the dollar, closing at 57.15 from 57.06 on Thursday.
“The market was lifted by continued buying pressure driven by positive economic developments, reflecting improved investor confidence,” said Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital Development Corp.
Positive participation from both local and foreign investors also boosted the market, with value turnover reaching P13.54 billion.
Limlingan said the “continued sentiment the U.S. Federal Reserve will maintain its accommodative stance has given investors a reason to re-engage with equities.”
The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its interest rate by 25 basis points last Thursday, the first time this year.
Sectors ended mixed, with financials leading the gainers, up 2.01 percent. Industrials recorded the steepest loss, down 0.60 percent.
Declining stocks outnumbered gainers 105 to 93, while 57 stocks remained unchanged.
Shares of BDO Unibank Inc. rose 4.79 percent to P150.90, while shares of Globe Telecom Inc. declined 2.75 percent to P1,555.
Asian markets were mixed Friday at the end of a strong week for investors following a US interest rate cut, with attention now turning to a call between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping due later in the day.
Adding to selling pressure were expectations that Japan’s central bank would hike interest rates later this year, despite holding them at its latest meeting.
While the Federal Reserve and boss Jerome Powell were not as forthright as hoped on future rate reductions, the mood on trading floors remained upbeat.
The US central bank lowered borrowing costs Wednesday for the first time since December after a series of reports pointed to a slowdown in the country’s labour market, which offset stubbornly high inflation.
A closely watched gauge of future moves indicated two more this year, but Powell warned decisions would be data-dependent.
With that in mind, even figures showing a sharp drop in initial jobless claims for last week did little to dampen expectations that rates will continue to be cut.
“The underlying trend remains one of only a gentle drift higher in claims, reinforcing the view that the US labour market is not showing signs of sudden weakness,” said National Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril.
All three main indexes ended Thursday at records, continuing a trend that has characterized markets in recent months, thanks to another surge in tech giants.
That came after news that chip titan Nvidia will invest $5 billion in struggling US rival Intel and jointly develop processors for PCs and data centers.
Asian traders moved cautiously in the morning, but selling picked up after the Bank of Japan’s latest meeting.
Monetary policymakers kept rates on hold but only after a surprise 7-2 vote that indicated two members wanted a hike. That boosted bets on such a move before the end of the year.
The move came amid lingering political uncertainty and economic concerns fueled by US tariffs.
The bank also said it would start offloading exchange-traded funds bought as part of its earlier monetary easing campaign that had helped boost equities.
Catril said the dissenters were “a strong signal that the BOJ will be hiking once political uncertainty is removed”.
Before the announcement, official data showed inflation in the fourth-largest economy slowing to 2.7 percent in August, with rice price rises easing following a sharp spike that rattled the government.
Traders are now awaiting a news conference from bank boss Kazuo Ueda due later in the day.
Tokyo ended in the red, having enjoyed a strong start to the day. There were also losses in Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta, while Hong Kong was flat.
Sydney, Wellington, Bangkok and Manila rose with London, Paris and Frankfurt.
Talks between president Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi — their first since June — are due to take place later Friday, with the US president telling reporters they would discuss a deal to change ownership of the hugely popular video-sharing app TikTok.
The phone call also comes after high level officials from both sides met in Madrid where they spoke about trade between the economic superpowers, with the deadline for a US tariff pause approaching in November. With AFP
