Stocks rebounded from their biggest two-day decline in a month, following a positive lead from Wall Street and strong demand for higher-yielding assets.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 90 points, or 1.1 percent, to close at 7,978.57 Thursday. The bellwether was also up 14.8 percent since the start of the year.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also advanced 39 points, or 0.9 percent, to settle at 4,730.81 on a value turnover of P7.1 billion.
Fifteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp. which climbed 8.5 percent to P3.69 and Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. which gained 4.2 percent to P5.92. PLDT Inc. advanced 3.6 percent to P1,932.
Meanwhile, other Asian stock markets also rose Thursday as investors look ahead to an expected Bank of England rate cut and the release of US jobs data.
Oil prices extended gains in Asia, giving a lift to energy and mining stocks after mixed data from the US Department of Energy showed crude supplies up, but falling gasoline stock.
A better-than-expected reading on US private jobs also supported a Wall Street rally, with payroll firm ADP reporting that private US companies added 179,000 jobs in July, slightly better than expected.
“Oil has once again established itself as the central thematic behind the world’s financial markets,” said Chris Weston, an analyst for IG in Melbourne.
“US data was largely upbeat, with the ADP private payrolls providing some belief that Friday’s non-farm payrolls will not be a repeat of the woeful print we saw in May.”
The US is due to announce official job creation data for July on Friday, with markets looking for signs that could increase the likelihood of a hike in US interest rates.
Sydney rose 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong also got a lift after a heavy sell-off in the previous session, putting on 0.5 percent. Seoul added 0.2 percent while Jakarta, Manila and Bangkok were also up.
Tokyo rose 1.1 percent—with a weaker yen helping exporters—following a more than three percent drop in the previous two days.
The greenback climbed to 101.52 yen from 101.25 yen Wednesday in New York.
Shanghai ended up 0.1 percent as investors await the release of economic data next week, including on trade, investment and retail sales.
The gains in Asia came after British stocks dipped as data suggested an economic hit from the Brexit vote, just ahead of a key Bank of England policy decision.
A gauge of activity in Britain’s key services industry showed contraction in July, feeding fears the country will slip into recession this year.
Market watchers expect the BoE to cut interest rates to a record-low 0.25 percent from 0.5 percent, while some say there is the possibility of a boost to its bond-buying stimulus program.
“The only question now is what their response will be,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.
“It seems the market is pricing in a rate cut and possibly some further quantitative easing, which while being the obvious response, may not be the most effective. The BoE may instead opt for something a little more unconventional,” he said. With AFP, Bloomberg
