Share prices bounced back Monday in bargain hunting after investors pounced on stocks that were battered last week.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index jumped 193.49 points, or 3.1 percent, to 6,513.68 on a value turnover of P8.6 billion. Gainers edged losers, 101 to 98, with 41 issues unchanged.
Emperador Inc. of tycoon Andrew Tan, the biggest liquor maker, surged 16.4 percent to P14.20, while International Container Terminal Services Inc. of magnate Enrique Razon Jr., the largest port operator, advanced 7.1 percent to P182,
Universal Robina Corp. of the Gokongwei Group, the biggest snack food maker, rose 6.1 percent to P136.90, while SM Investments Corp. of the Sy Group climbed 5.7 percent to P964.
The rest of Asian stocks were mostly down on Monday as weak Chinese economic data, fears of a resurgent coronavirus and the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan gnawed at investor sentiment.
There were dips in Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Wellington, and Jakarta, while Mumbai was up. Shanghai was up 0.03 percent at the close.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down for a third consecutive session on Monday despite government data showing a 0.3 percent rise in GDP—slightly more than expected after a surge in virus infections and new restrictions.
Retail sales in China expanded 8.5 percent in July year-on-year and industrial output was up 6.4 percent, according to figures released by Beijing’s statistics bureau, with both figures below analyst estimates.
Lockdowns and other movement restrictions brought in to combat the country’s recent coronavirus outbreaks have been blamed for hampering economic performance along with a series of deadly floods.
“The spread of domestic outbreaks and natural disasters have affected the economy of some regions, and economic recovery remains unstable and uneven,” National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Fu Linghui told a press briefing.
But he added that “the national economy continues to stabilize and recover” overall.
Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at ANZ Banking Group, said the figures “suggest the economy is losing steam very fast.”
Surging infections linked to the Delta variant of the coronavirus “also adds extra risk to August’s activities,” he added.
The resurgence of the virus in China was “weighing on investors’ nerves now, especially when one looks at the evolution of outbreaks in the region from Australia to Singapore to Japan and everywhere in between,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific with OANDA.
“If anyone can break the trend, it is China,” he added. “But widespread outbreaks and restrictions would be a game-changer for the Asia recovery, and one could argue, the global one as well when one considers the implications to supply chains.”
Market watchers were also following developments in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have sealed a total military victory in the country’s 20-year war.
