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Friday, March 29, 2024

Stock market extends rally; PLDT, Jollibee lead gainers

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Stocks rose for the third straight day Monday, lifted by a report that the Philippines secured 30 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by US drug maker Novavax.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 14.91 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,304.79 on a value turnover of P11.5 billion. Gainers beat losers, 129 to 94, with 46 issues unchanged.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fast-food chain, advanced 3.4 percent to P199.10, while PLDT Inc., the largest telecommunications firm, climbed 2.5 percent to P1,460.

Apollo Global Capital Inc. surged 29.4 percent to P0.26, while Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. jumped 26.7 percent to P2.09.

The rest of Asian markets were mixed Monday as traders struggled to track another record performance on Wall Street, though investors remain broadly upbeat on the prospect of a further massive stimulus for the US economy, with President-elect Joe Biden calling for a spending spree in the trillions of dollars.

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With vaccines being rolled out around the world and key risk events including the US election, Georgia senate runoffs and Brexit now out of the way, observers said focus is now on the expected global recovery from last year’s economic catastrophe.

The need for more financial help for the world’s top economy was laid out Friday with data showing 140,000 people lost their jobs in December—the first fall since April—as virus infections and deaths surged across the country.

Biden, who will be sworn in as president on January 20, said he would press for a new rescue package that includes $2,000 direct payments to taxpayers and help for small businesses.

“The price tag will be high,” he warned as he promised to lay out his proposals Thursday. “It will be in the trillions of dollars.”

He added: “If we don’t act now, things are going to get much worse and harder to get out of a hole later.”

Investors welcomed the prospect of another spending splurge that will provide a huge boost to the economy, coupled with Federal Reserve financial support and record low rates for the foreseeable future.

The dollar extended gains across the board, and was sitting at a three-week peak against the yen.

Wall Street’s three main indexes all finished last week at all-time highs, but Asia struggled to push on.

Hong Kong, Mumbai, Taipei, Jakarta and Bangkok were all up but Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington fell, while Seoul was also lower despite a rally in market heavyweight Samsung that was fueled by reports it is in talks with US giant Intel over making some of its best chips.

While the broad consensus is for a strong run in equities this year, there is a feeling that the latest rally may be petering out.

“After being bullish for several months, we are definitely becoming more cautious on the stock market up at these levels,” said Matt Maley, at Miller Tabak + Co., adding that most of the surge in the S&P 500 from March its March trough is “behind us.”

Axi strategist Stephen Innes added that fears about the virus, which continues to wreak havoc around the world and force governments to impose new lockdowns, remained the main stumbling block. With AFP

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