Investors unfazed by growth slowdown
Credit to Author: TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD| Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2019 16:20:30 +0000
The stock market returned to the 8,000 level on Thursday as investors chose to ignore news that economic growth fell below target last year.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index grew by 0.94 percent or 75.25 points to end the day at 8,064.90 while the wider All Shares gained 0.98 percent or 47.22 points to finish at 4,861.23.
“The market has already priced in the undershoot of GDP (gross domestic product) figures, that is why market is up even though the GDP [growth result] is not favorable,” Philstocks Financial Inc. research associate Piper Chaucer Tan said, adding that investors had also gone bargain-hunting.
Weighed down by inflation, the economy grew by 6.2 percent last year, below the government’s downwardly-revised 6.5-6.9 percent target.
Tan said investors took the opportunity to pick up property and consumer stocks “as these sectors will greatly benefit when the economy recovers.”
Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan, meanwhile, said “Philippine investors brushed off the slightly lower than expected [GDP growth], and rode the positive sentiment of regional markets to finish in the green.”
Overnight gains on Wall Street drove Asian markets up on Thursday, with Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney all ending up 0.4 percent while Seoul jumped 0.8 percent and Singapore added 0.5 percent.
There were also advances in Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta though Tokyo closed 0.1 percent lower.
In early trade London rose 0.2 percent, Paris was flat and Frankfurt fell 0.2 percent.
Back in Manila, all sectoral indices ended in the green except for mining and oil, which plunged by 3.42 percent.
Volume turnover stood at 1.57 billion shares valued at P7.55 billion.
Winners outnumbered losers, 120 to 87, while 43 issues were unchanged.
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