The stock market rose Friday for the fourth straight day following a record close on Wall Street overnight as trade war fears are tempered by hopes China and the US will eventually reach a compromise.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained 48.60 points, or 0.7 percent to 7,399.18 on a value turnover of P5.4 billion. Gainers beat losers, 103 to 91, with 46 issues unchanged.
JG Summit Holdings Inc. of industrialist John Gokongwei climbed 3.7 percent to P52.90, while Security Bank Corp., the sixth-biggest lender in terms of assets, added 2.2 percent to P212.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll roads, power generation, water and electricity distribution and hospitals, gained 1.6 percent to P4.57.
Transpacific Broadband Group International Inc., which is bidding to become the third major telecommunications firm, slumped 12.9 percent to P0.54.
The company said Thursday it planned to raise money from foreign investors for its planned participation in a consortium bidding to become the third major telecommunications player in the country.
TGBI said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange its board approved the fundraising, equivalent to a 40-percent equity to foreign investors, through a private placement.
Asian equities have had a roller-coaster week, with strong US jobs figures providing initial support before Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese imports sent investors running for the hills on Wednesday.
Expectations that US companies will report a surge in April-June earnings have also helped deflect attention from the possibility of a damaging trade war.
All three main indexes ended higher in New York with the Nasdaq hitting a fresh record thanks to a rally in the tech sector.
And those gains filtered through to Asia, with the Nikkei in Tokyo ending 1.9 percent higher thanks to a weaker yen, while Hong Kong added 0.2 percent. Seoul and Taipei each gained more than one percent, while Singapore added 0.2 percent. Bangkok and Jakarta were also well up.
However, Shanghai dipped 0.2 percent after jumping more than two percent Thursday, while investors were unmoved by figures showing Chinese exports beat expectations last month but imports fell short.
Sydney was barely moved.
Beijing’s measured response to the warning and indications from both sides that they are willing to talk has instilled trading floors with a little optimism heading into the weekend.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday told lawmakers the White House was “available” for discussions with China.
That came after China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said the economic superpowers “should sit down and try to find a solution to this trade problem.”
News that China’s trade surplus with the US, a major cause of Trump’s anger, hit a record in June added to the tensions.
Hannah Anderson, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, said: “Our baseline view is that trade policy uncertainty will continue driving higher levels of volatility but will not fundamentally alter the direction of markets over the next 12-18 months. With AFP