The stock market rallied Tuesday for the second straight day, boosted the apparent slowdown of the pandemic in the Philippines.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index surged 98.18 points, or 1.6 percent, to 6,034.03 on a value turnover of P4.6 billion. Gainers beat losers 112 to 84, with 46 issues unchanged.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night praised the country’s front-liners and the public for the decline in coronavirus cases in the country, noting that lockdowns had contributed greatly to flattening the curve.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll roads, water and electricity distribution, hospitals and infrastructure, advanced 4.7 percent to P3.54, while Megaworld Corp., the biggest lessor of office spaces, also rose 4.7 percent to P3.10.
GT Capital Holdings Inc. of the Ty Group climbed 3.9 percent to P400, while BDO Unibank Inc., the largest lender in terms of assets, increased 3.7 percent to P93.50.
The rest of Asian markets ticked higher Tuesday after last week’s steep drops as investors brushed off Donald Trump’s latest anti-China salvo, while sterling suffered more selling pressure on fears over Brexit talks.
Despite continued uncertainty about the timetable for economic recovery—and with no coronavirus vaccine yet available—investors remain convinced central banks around the world are willing to play backstop and keep monetary policy supportive for years to come.
The wall of cash put up by authorities has been credited with fueling an incredible surge in world markets from March troughs—led by tech firms which have benefited from people staying at home during the pandemic.
Last week’s harsh sell-off brought that rally to a juddering halt, but analysts do not expect a retreat anything like that seen earlier in the year.
“The sell-off provides a stark reminder that with everybody holding on to the same side of the vaccine life-raft, it should not be too unexpected that when the seas turn rough, many will fall into the drink on the first significant starboard list,” said Stephen Innes at AxiCorp.
“Still, investors have ample flotation thanks to the Federal Reserve, and the fiscal harness would allow them to hurry back aboard with relative ease if they so choose.”
Tokyo piled on 0.8 percent and Sydney climbed more than one percent while Shanghai and Seoul enjoyed healthy rallies. There were also gains in Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Jakarta and Wellington.
There was little initial reaction to Trump saying he wanted to wind back Washington’s economic relationship with China, warning he would stop US firms doing business with the country from winning federal contracts.
“We’ll manufacture our critical manufacturing supplies in the United States, we’ll create ‘made in America’ tax credits and bring our jobs back to the United States and we’ll impose tariffs on companies that desert America to create jobs in China and other countries,” the president said in a White House news conference.
He also said he would “hold China accountable for allowing the virus to spread around the world.” With AFP