Stocks rose for a second day, tracking other Asian markets, after data showing expansion in US manufacturing boosted optimism over the health of the world’s largest economy.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, gained 41 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 7,719.24 Tuesday. This pushed up total gains this year to 11 percent.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also advanced 10 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,570.40, on a value turnover of P7 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 91 to 85, while 66 issues were unchanged.
Miners led gainers, after several companies expressed optimism their sites would remain open, despite the results of a government-led audit that found only 11 of the 41 mines complied with environmental rules.
Fourteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Semirara Mining and Power Corp. which climbed 6.4 percent to P122 and A. Brown Company Inc., the holding company of businessman Walter Brown, which gained 6.1 percent to P1.21.
Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., the holding company of the Aboitiz family, rose 3.2 percent to P77.60, while Manila Water Company Inc. added 1.6 percent to close at P31.
Meanwhile, most Asian stocks also traded higher Tuesday. The odds the Fed will raise rates in December climbed to 61 percent on Monday, from 51 percent a week earlier, as new orders and production expanded last month, indicating gradual improvement across America’s manufacturing landscape.
“The data is suggesting the Fed will likely raise rates in December,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, said by phone from Sydney. “We’ll probably have a couple of months of stronger data gauging from the strength of new orders. The yen weakness is supportive of Japanese exports.”
Tokyo shares rose Tuesday as banks rallied and a weaker yen lifted exporters, including auto giants Toyota and Honda.
The dollar rose against the yen as upbeat US manufacturing data boosted bets that the world’s largest economy was strong enough to absorb an interest rate hike. In Asian afternoon trading, the greenback fetched 102.23 yen up from 101.63 yen in New York Monday.
A weaker yen boosts the profitability of Japan’s exporting firms by making their goods cheaper.
“Overall, the US economy appears to be on a growth track,” Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Japan Asia Securities Group, told Bloomberg News.
South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.4 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.4 percent and New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index slipped 0.3 percent. Markets in mainland China are closed all week for holidays, while those in Hong Kong have yet to start trading.
Futures on the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1 percent in their most recent trading. Hong Kong’s benchmark equity gauge rose 1.2 percent on Monday as better-than-expected Macau gambling numbers lifted casino operators.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.1 percent after the US equity benchmark gauge fell 0.3 percent on Monday. Traders are keeping a close watch on US economic reports this week, scouring data for clues as to the timing of a potential Fed rate increase. A key jobs report on Friday could show a pickup in the pace of hiring, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Oil halted four days of gains, holding near the highest close in three months, before data forecast to show U.S. crude stockpiles expanded. West Texas Intermediate futures slipped 0.3 percent in early Asian trading. With Bloomberg, AFP
