Stock market rallies; Uy’s Dito, Chelsea advance

The stock market rose Tuesday for the second straight day as the government moves to further open up the economy amid an apparent slowdown in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index advanced 80.64 points, or 1.4 percent, to 5,994.87 on a value turnover of P5.4 billion. Losers, however, beat gainers, 108 to 81, with 53 issues unchanged.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases will allow restaurants with dining set-up to operate 24/7 or beyond curfew hours as the country prepares for looser quarantine restrictions.

Dito CME Holdings Corp. of businessman Dennis Uy, the third major telecommunications firm, climbed 8.2 percent to P5.30, while sister unit Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. jumped 12.5 percent to P4.96.

NOW Corp. of the Velarde family rose 4.9 percent to P3.45, while International Container Terminal Services Inc. of tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., the biggest port operator, advanced 4.8 percent to P115.

The rest of Asian markets started the new trading quarter on a quiet note Thursday with Tokyo closed by a computer glitch and several others shut for holidays, though there were healthy gains elsewhere in the region and Europe on US stimulus hopes.

Wall Street provided a strong lead with all three main indexes ending a torrid September with a rally, which was also helped by a forecast-beating reading on US jobs creation, which bodes well for government figures due Friday.

Buying and selling on Tokyo’s stock exchanges was halted less than half an hour before the open owing to “glitches linked to the delivery of market information,” operator Japan Exchange Group said in a statement. Officials said they were working to ensure business could resume Friday.

The glitch, one of the worst in the exchange’s history, was caused by a “hardware failure” and meant the country’s top indexes—the Nikkei 225 and the Topix—were shut for the entire day.

The issue also affected trade on several other exchanges, including in Nagoya and Sapporo, though the Osaka exchange was functioning normally.

JPX is the third-largest exchange in the world by market capitalization, at an estimated $5.1 trillion, including listings outside Tokyo. On an average day, equities worth about $28.5 billion are traded.

Analysts said the glitch was not likely to have a significant immediate impact on the market.

There was also no trade in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei owing to public holidays.

Still, Sydney put on one percent, while Singapore, Mumbai and Jakarta rallied more than one percent while there were also gains in Bangkok and Wellington as investors picked up the baton from US traders. 

Support came from rising hopes that US lawmakers could finally hammer out a new virus rescue package for the world’s top economy after months of deadlock.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin have held a series of talks this week aimed at breaking the impasse and both have said they were “hopeful.”

Reports out of Washington said the two sides were looking at an “escalator” compromise in which the new stimulus starts at $1.5 trillion—around what Republicans are open to—and rises closer to the Democrats’ $2.2-trillion plan if the pandemic persists. With AFP