PSEi touches 7,900, tracks regional rally
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2019 16:28:23 +0000
THE stock market rose for a fourth straight session on Monday, tracking a regional rally, with investor sentiment also lifted by the start of fresh US-China trade talks and continued inflation-generated optimism.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) opened at 7,800.88 and went as high as 7,900.70 in morning trade before paring gains to end the day at 7,787.66, up 0.34 percent or 26.55 points from Friday.
The broader All Shares rose by 0.42 percent or 19.38 points to finish at 4,671.97.
Philstocks Financial, Inc. research associate Japhet Louis Tantiangco said market sentiment was still being buoyed by last Friday’s announcement that inflation had eased to 5.1 percent in December, down significantly from 6 percent a month earlier.
“Adding to this is the vice ministerial level trade talks between the US and China in Beijing where both parties aim to further settle their disputes,” he added.
Trade negotiators began a two-day meeting on Monday, the first face-to-face discussions since a three-month trade truce was agreed upon last month by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Last Friday, meanwhile, Wall Street stocks surged following dovish Federal Reserve comments and a better-than-expected jobs report.
The Dow Jones, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 rose by 3.3 percent, 4.3 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, rebounding from heavy losses on Thursday, after news that 312,000 jobs had been added in December, higher than what analysts had forecast.
Later in the day, US Federal Reserve Chairman told economists that the US central bank had no “pre-set” plan for interest rates, which reassured investors worried over excessive rate hikes.
Regional markets took heart on Monday, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 2.4 percent higher while Sydney gained 1.1 percent and Seoul jumped 1.3 percent.
Taipei surged more than two percent and Jakarta rose 0.7 percent up.
Hong Kong added 0.8 percent and Shanghai finished 0.7 percent higher, with buying also boosted by news that the People’s Bank of China had cut the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve.
In Manila, only the financials index declined, dropping 1.31 percent.
More than 1.33 billion issues were traded, valued at P8.4 billion.|
Winners led losers, 126 to 82, while 38 issues were unchanged.
FROM REPORTS BY ANGELICA BALLESTEROS AND AFP
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