May inflation cited as PSEi gains 1.4%
Lower-than-expected inflation numbers and market gains elsewhere cheered investors on Tuesday with the bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gaining 1.40 percent or 106 points to end the day at 7,685.76.
The wider All Shares rose by 1.06 percent or 49.11 points to close at 4,664.29.
“Philippine stocks rallied, as the US counterparts did, as traders appeared to shrug off global trade tensions and focused on a favorable economic backdrop instead. Locally, inflation data came out better than expected albeit higher than April,” Regina Capital Development Corporation said in an analysis.
A decline in crude prices was “ also a positive for the Philippines given that we are net importers,” Regina Capital added.
Summit Securities Inc. President Harry Liu pointed out that a continued drop in oil prices would further boost the stock market.
Papa Securities Corporation trader Gio Perez said investors welcomed May’s inflation figure of 4.6 percent, noting that this was much lower than the 4.9 percent expected by the Finance department despite again breaching the 2.0-4.0 target of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
All sectoral indices ended in the green on Tuesday, with holding firms gaining the most by 2.32 percent.
Over 1.98 billion shares valued at P5.4 billion were traded.
Advancers beat decliners, 112 to 84, while 53 issues were unchanged.
Most Asian markets, meanwhile, rose on Tuesday, extending recent gains as analysts said optimism over the improving US economy was helping overcome worries about a possible trade war and geopolitical uncertainty.
US investors provided another strong lead with the Nasdaq chalking up a new closing high, as Friday’s better-than-expected jobs report continued to provide support despite an expected jump in Federal Reserve interest rates.
Tokyo and Hong Kong each ended 0.3 percent higher, while Shanghai climbed 0.7 percent. Seoul and Singapore were each 0.3 percent higher but Sydney slipped 0.5 percent and Taipei and Bangkok also dropped.
WITH A REPORT FROM AFP
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