Anti-Covid 2019 efforts lift PSEi
Credit to Author: Lisbet K. Esmael| Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 17:26:12 +0000
THE stock market rose for the second straight day on Thursday, returning to the 7,400 level on optimism over China’s measures to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), which first broke out there late last year.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) grew by 0.22 percent or 16.06 points to close at 7, 413.00, while the broader All Shares inched up by 0.32 percent or 13.78 points to 4, 375.87.
“Local shares closed higher on signs that China may be planning further measures to support its economy as it reels from a virus-induced slowdown and after [US] Federal Reserve officials signaled they aren’t anxious to raise interest rates anytime soon,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
“New cases in China dipped below 1 percent since the mass outbreak in January after [it] altered its counting method again,” he added.
Originating in the city of Wuhan in the East Asian country’s central Hubei province, Covid-19 has spread to more than two dozen countries, claimed the lives of at least 2,120 people — including one, a Chinese tourist, in the Philippines — and infected more than 74,000 others as of Thursday.
The virus forced companies in China to suspend their operations for weeks, inflicted blows to global trade and tourism, and disrupted supply chains.
Limlingan’s remarks come after Beijing touted a big drop in new virus cases as proof its epidemic control efforts are working. Chinese officials said this week that these efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in cities nationwide, have started to pay off.
More than 600 new infections were reported in Wuhan — the lowest daily tally since late January and well below the 1,749 new cases on Wednesday. The national figure has now fallen for three straight days.
“Results show that our control efforts are working,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a special meeting on the virus with Southeast Asian counterparts in Laos, citing the latest data.
Wall Street rebounded on strong US housing data and fading Covid-19 fears, with the Dow Jones rising by 0.2 percent, S&P by 0.4 percent and Nasdaq by 0.7 percent.
Asian markets were mixed. Shanghai and Tokyo climbed by 1.84 percent and 0.34 percent, respectively. But Seoul slipped by 0.67 percent, Hong Kong lost 0.17 percent and Singapore shed 0.47 percent.
In Manila, sectoral indices were also mixed, with industrial, holdings firms and services ending trading in Financials, mining and oil, and property were in the green.
More than 1.8 billion shares, valued at 5.79 billion, were traded.
Winners led losers, 90 to 84, while 54 remained unchanged.
WITH A REPORT FROM AFP