Stock market extends rally; URC, SM Investments gain

The stock market extended its rally Thursday as investors kept an eye on US stimulus progress and the rollout of vaccines.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index advanced 71.97 points, or 1 percent, to 7,299.70 on a value turnover of P9.3 billion. Gainers beat losers, 133 to 90, with 47 issues unchanged.

SM Investments Corp. of the Sy Group rose 2.4 percent to P1,075, while Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, climbed 2.9 percent P158.50

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll roads, water and electricity distribution, hospitals and infrastructure, added 2.6 percent to P4.40, but PLDT Inc., the largest telecommunications firm, fell 2.2 percent to P1,330.

The rest of Asian markets saw broad gains Thursday, while the pound held around 19-month highs on Brexit optimism, though surging infections and new lockdowns tempered gains.

Lawmakers on both sides said they were hopeful of passing a much-needed rescue package for the troubled US economy as they haggled over details of a bipartisan proposal that appeared to have broken months of deadlock.

With the two most contentious items removed from the plan, which is said to amount to around $900 billion, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said leaders “made major headway toward hammering out a targeted pandemic relief package that would be able to pass both chambers with bipartisan majorities”.

He added they had “agreed that we will not leave town until we’ve made law,” while top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said: “It’s not a done deal yet, but we are very close.”

OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said that there was chatter about a possible vote on Capitol Hill at the weekend.

Wall Street ended broadly higher with the Nasdaq chalking up another record, and Asia mostly extended the gains but hopes for a new stimulus were weighed by the imposition of strict containment measures around the world as coronavirus infections and deaths spike.

After a slow start, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai were all well up, while Sydney put on more than one percent and Mumbai also enjoyed strong gains.

Wellington rallied on data showing New Zealand’s economy grew more than expected in the third quarter, while Bangkok was also up. But there were losses in Seoul, Taipei, Singapore and Jakarta.

As the stimulus talks continued, the Federal Reserve held its final policy meeting of the year at which it gave an upbeat assessment of the outlook for the world’s top economy next year and pledged to maintain its huge bond-buying, monetary-easing program until it is back on an even keel.

But bank chief Jerome Powell reiterated the need for US lawmakers to reach a stimulus agreement, saying: “The case for fiscal policy right now is very strong. I think that is widely understood.”

Stephen Innes at Axi said: “The big takeaway from the… meeting was the acknowledgement monetary policy can only have a limited influence on inflation now. Right now, fiscal policy is the most powerful economic tool.” With AFP