September inflation boosts bourse
Credit to Author: TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD| Date: Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:19:06 +0000
THE stock market broke five straight days of losses on Friday on news that the country’s inflation eased to a more than three-year low last month and that the Federal Reserve (Fed) may reduce rates further.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged by 2.11 percent or 159.05 points to finish at 7,704.60, while the wider All Shares climbed by 1.56 percent or 71.50 points to end at 4,675.60.
“With inflation falling below consensus estimates, and the probability of [a] US rate cut increasing, investors finally turned into bargain hunters to end the last trading session for the week,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
Consumer price growth slowed to 0.9 percent in September from 1.7 percent a month earlier and 6.7 percent last year on the back of lower prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, the
Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday.
The latest inflation figure — the lowest since June 2016’s 1.3 percent — fell within the 0.6 to 1.4-percent range projected by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Meanwhile, traders are expecting a third round of rate cuts by the Fed in its forthcoming meeting this month to boost the US economy.
“Movement next week for the PSEi should still be highly likely influenced by US market movement,” said Papa Securities sales associate Gabriel Jose Perez, who pegged the support level at the 7,475 mark.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up by 0.47 percent, 0.80 percent and 1.12 percent, respectively.
In Asia, Tokyo climbed 0.32 percent and Jakarta added 0.26 percent. In contrast, Shanghai dropped 0.92 percent, Hong Kong dipped 0.96 percent, Seoul fell 0.55 percent, Singapore shed 0.30 percent and Thailand declined by 0.12 percent.
In Manila, all sectors were up, with financials taking the lead at 3.03 percent.
Over 420.38 million shares amounting to P5.08 billion were traded.
Winners outmatched losers, 112-60, while 46 issues were unchanged.