Stocks soared for a second day, sending the benchmark index to a three-week high, as Chinese economic growth met estimates and on signs US monetary policy will remain accommodative.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company bellwether, jumped 150 points, or 2 percent, to close at 7,721.57 Tuesday. This pushed up total gains this year to 11.1 percent.
The heavier index, representing all shares, climbed 74 points, or 1.7 percent, to settle at 4,534.49, on a value turnover of P12.2 billion. Advancers outnumbered losers, 119 to 76, while 40 issues were unchanged.
All six sectors advanced, while the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by PXP Energy Corp., formerly Philex Petroleum Corp., which jumped 10.2 percent to P4.45, as President Rodrigo Duterte visited China to calm tension over the South China Sea, where PXP has a major interest in oil and gas reserves.
Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. climbed 9 percent to P78.50, while Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. gained 5.7 percent to P11.60. Universal Robina Corp. rose 5.1 percent to P185.
Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly rose Wednesday but early gains were pared as dealers shrugged at news China’s economy had stabilized in the third quarter.
News that China grew at 6.7 percent during July-September, beating a forecast in an AFP poll, came as relief following a years-long slowdown in the country that has been a major drag on economies from Asia to the Americas.
While that figure is within the government’s target of 6.5-7.0 percent for the year, it compares to the 6.9 percent annual rate in 2015, the slowest pace in a quarter of a century.
And analysts said there was little in the data to drive big moves and it would likely mean Beijing will hold off any fresh stimulus measures.
“China won’t do anything new in terms of policy because the economy isn’t sliding,” Ben Kwong, a Hong Kong-based director at KGI Asia, told Bloomberg News.
“Under these conditions, the market doesn’t really have a direction. It needs to wait for news on US [interest] rates.”
Shanghai ended flatand Hong Kong gave up 0.1 percent in the afternoon.
However, Tokyo closed 0.2 percent higher and Sydney—where several listed firms have interests in China—rose 0.5 percent. Seoul was slightly higher, Singapore put on 0.2 percent in late trade, Taipei added 0.7 percent and Manila soared 1.8 percent.
China’s yuan benefited from the data release, climbing against the dollar for the first time in eight sessions.
The dollar struggled to recover from Tuesday’s losses against the yen after dealers were left unimpressed by US inflation data that analysts said did nothing to strengthen the case for a US interest rate hike.
A below-forecast reading on producer inflation “was not sufficient to derail the prospects of a December Fed lift off, but certainly continues to support the gradual and flat pace of rate hikes into 2017”, Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA, said in a note.
The dollar also suffered selling against most high-yielding Asia-Pacific currencies, with the South Korean won up 0.6 percent and Indonesia’s rupiah gaining 0.1 percent. There were also healthy gains for Thailand’s baht and the Malaysian ringgit. With AFP, Bloomberg
