Stocks soared Wednesday after oil prices briefly sank following a downgraded IMF global growth forecast for 2022.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index jumped 104.78 points, or 1.5 percent, to 7,142.42 on a value turnover of P4.8 billion. Gainers beat losers, 98 to 78, with 54 issues unchanged.
Major property developer Ayala Land Inc. of the Ayala Group rose 4.7 percent to P35.60, while International Container Terminal Services Inc. of tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., the biggest port operator, advanced 2.8 percent to P231.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. of the Sy Group climbed 2.6 percent to P38.20, while sister unit BDO Unibank Inc., the largest lender in terms of assets, increased 2.1 percent to P132.50.
The rest of Asian markets were marginally higher on Wednesday while oil began recovering after a downgraded IMF global growth forecast for 2022 had sent crude prices plunging.
The International Monetary Fund slashed its outlook by 0.8 percentage points, largely over inflationary crises linked to the Ukraine war and the coronavirus pandemic—prompting a five percent dive in oil prices on Tuesday.
“The economic effects of the war are spreading far and wide—like seismic waves that emanate from the epicenter of an earthquake,” IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in a report.
Oil prices began to recover Wednesday, however, and Asian stocks also mostly rose following a positive lead from Wall Street, where US stocks rallied on the back of promising housing-starts data and solid corporate earnings.
Both main contracts climbed but crude has suffered major shocks this year, from the war in Ukraine to the raging coronavirus outbreak in China where the economy has been battered by anti-COVID restrictions.
Tens of millions are still barred from leaving home in economic center Shanghai and tech hub Shenzhen, where a COVID-19 outbreak has broken down supply lines and shuttered businesses.
“China continues to stay wedded to deleveraging parts of the economy while attempting to add stimulus in a targeted sector manner,” said Jeffrey Haley, senior market analyst at Oanda.
“However, the Shanghai lockdown and fears its COVID-zero policy will crimp growth this year continue to weigh on markets that clearly want more of the usual cast-of-thousands stimulus measures from years past.”
The Shanghai Composite Index was the biggest loser among major Asian markets, dropping 1.35 percent at the close.
Hong Kong—which plummeted on Tuesday over concerns about Beijing’s ongoing tech-sector crackdown—was marginally lower in afternoon trade.
Tokyo gained 0.86 percent, buoyed by a cheaper yen. Jakarta, Sydney, and Taipei all inched upward while Seoul was flat.
Despite the rally on Wall Street, there are concerns about the impact of the earnings report from Netflix showing a drop in subscriptions in the first quarter of the year.
This was the first such drop for Netflix in a decade and hammered the streaming giant’s shares, which dropped by a quarter of their value in after-market trading. With AFP
