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Friday, March 29, 2024

Stock market rises; URC, Megaworld lead advance

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Stocks rose Tuesday on bargain hunting after plunging Monday, boosted by a record close on Wall Street overnight.

The Philippines Stock Exchange Index climbed 59.58 points, or 1 percent, to 5,775.50 on a value turnover of P5.7 billion. Gainers overwhelmed losers, 136 to 52, with 46 issues unchanged.

Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker and owned by the Gokongwei Group, rallied 4.4 percent to P130.50, while AC Energy Philippines Inc., a renewable energy company owned by the Ayala Group, advanced 4.2 percent to P2.71.

Megaworld Corp., the largest lessor of office spaces in the Philippines, increased 3.1 percent to P2.99, while Globe Telecom Inc., the second-biggest telecommunications firm, rose 2.8 percent P2,070.

The rest of Asian stocks rallied Tuesday, with investors cheered by forecast-beating US data and hopes for fresh stimulus for the world’s top economy.

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Tokyo finished 1.7 percent higher after rallying more than two percent on Monday, helped by a drop in the yen that supported exporters, and Sydney piled on almost two percent.

Hong Kong jumped two percent and Sydney piled on 1.9 percent, while Mumbai was up 1.7 percent.

Seoul, Taipei, Singapore and Jakarta were all more than one percent up. Wellington and Bangkok were up almost one percent, and Shanghai edged slightly higher.

But while there are small signs of a slowdown in infections in key US states, the spread of the virus across the planet and the re-introduction of strict containment measures continue to be overwhelming factors keeping equities from extending gains.

Tech fueled a surge in New York, sending the Nasdaq to a new all-time high, as traders looked for firms likely to benefit from people being forced to stay or work from home.

There was also a cheer for figures showing the US manufacturing sector expanded last month at its fastest pace since March last year, which followed strong factory readings from China and Europe.

Still, AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes said: “The composition of China’s economic recovery offers a roadmap to the rest of the world that is not especially bullish for a consumer-driven rebound.

“It’s easier to normalize the supply-side of the economy than the demand side in a post-pandemic-shock environment.”

Attention is now on Washington, where Democrats and Republicans are battling to hammer out a new package to save the US economy from the ravages of the pandemic.

With extra unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions now dried up, there are worries millions of Americans will suffer if nothing is passed soon, which would batter the already stuttering economy.

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of Staff Mark Meadows had been “productive.”

In the Senate, Chuck Schumer said both sides were “moving closer” but added there were a “lot of issues that are still outstanding.”

Reports said Donald Trump, facing an election in November and trailing in polls, was considering using an executive order to re-impose the ban on evictions and push through a payroll tax cut.

Leaders of top companies including Walmart, Facebook, Microsoft, Google-parent Alphabet and Starbucks urged lawmakers to push a deal through, warning of a “catastrophic” impact on the economy and employment if a new round of federal aid is withheld. With AFP

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