PSEi lifted
Credit to Author: ANGELICA BALLESTEROS, TMT| Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 16:34:08 +0000
Trump statements
THE stock market opened a holiday-shortened trading week by rising on Tuesday, taking its cue from the previous day’s global gains that were attributed to US President Donald Trump’s decision to delay tariff hikes on Chinese goods.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) grew by 0.33 percent or 26.03 points to close at 7,988.16 while the broader All Shares rose by 0.25 percent or 12.28 points to finish at 4,896.11.
Philippine financial markets were closed on Monday as the country observed the 33rd anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution.
“The market has just now digested the positive news that the March 1 deadline for US-China talks has been extended, building on optimism that it will be solved sooner than later,” AAA Southeast Equities Inc. President Matthew Cabangon said.
Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan echoed the view, saying Philippine shares “edged slightly higher … after Trump said he would delay placing additional tariffs.”
Trump on Sunday said he would delay the imposition of higher tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods following “substantial progress” in trade talks. The tariffs were originally scheduled to be levied starting March 1.
The US president followed that up on Monday by saying that he expected to hold a “signing summit” soon with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Wall Street posted modest gains in response overnight but the optimism failed to filter through to Asia on Tuesday.
Shanghai sank 0.7 percent Tuesday after the previous day’s 5.6 percent surge while Hong Kong also slipped 0.7 percent and Tokyo ended down 0.4 percent.
Sydney sank almost one percent and Singapore was 0.4 percent off, with Seoul 0.3 percent lower, Wellington down 0.2 percent and Taipei flat.
While dealers are hopeful the two sides will reach an agreement, there is some scepticism about how much they can resolve, while some observers warned that failure to meet market expectations could lead to a sharp drop in global equities following a strong start to the year.
“The emerging shape and tone of the negotiations do not portend a resolution of many pending issues per se,” said Aninda Mitra, an analyst at BNY Mellon Investment Management.
“Notwithstanding the relief in Chinese markets and an expected improvement in global risk sentiment, the bilateral trade relationship will remain complicated.”
In Manila, all sectoral results finished firmer except for financials, which fell by 0.43 percent.
More than 1.15 billion shares valued at P10.9 billion were traded Losers led winners, 104 to 91, while 51 issues remained unchanged.
with a report from AFP
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