Stock market recovers on trade talks optimism
Credit to Author: ANGELICA BALLESTEROS, TMT| Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 16:22:19 +0000
THE stock market recovered some ground on Monday as investor sentiment was boosted by renewed hopes over US-China trade talks.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index touched the 8,000 level during intra-day trading but lost some strength to finish the day up 0.79 percent or 62.44 points at 7,971.33. The wider All Shares rose 0.38 percent or 18.28 points to end at 4,841.60.
AAA Southeast Equities Inc. President Matthew Cabangon said market players went bargain-hunting as they cheered US President Donald Trump’s announcement that US-China trade talks in Beijing last week were productive.
Negotiations will resume this week in Washington and Trump has also indicated that he could extend the deadline for a deal beyond March 1.
In a separate comment, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said continued talks “added fresh hopes that a resolution was near, even if the two countries appeared far apart on key points.”
Regional markets rallied on Monday — Tokyo climbed by 1.82 percent, Shanghai jumped by 2.68 percent and Hong Kong added 1.57 percent.
Cabangon said that share price gains for San Miguel Corp. (SMC) also helped boost the index as the company was expected to benefit from the implementation of the rice tarrification law.
SMC, through subsidiary San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. (SMFB), last year said that it was planning to enter rice importation business.
SMC shares ended up by 7.06 percent or P11.50 to P174.50 apiece on Monday while SMFB grew by 8.59 percent or P7.90 to close at P99.85 each.
Sectoral results were mixed with the property and mining and oil indices the only losers.
More than 1.39 billion shares valued at P11.07 billion were traded Losers led winners, 114 to 97, while 39 issues were unchanged.
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