Market climbs; NIKL advances

MANILA, Philippines — Stocks rose Wednesday, joining the rally in Hong Kong and the rest of Asian markets after dealers brushed off the latest China outburst from Donald Trump.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 36.15 points, or 0.5 percent, to 7,840.86 on a value turnover of P6.6 billion. Losers, however, edged gainers, 102 to 100, with 47 issues unchanged.

Nickel Asia Corp., the the nickel miner, advanced 8.9 percent to P4.90, while Phinma Energy Corp., a unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp., climbed 4 percent to P2.86.

Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. surged 8.3 percent to P2.08, while SM Investments Corp. of the Sy Group gained 3.8 percent to P1,032.

The rest of Asian markets rose Wednesday led by a surge in Hong Kong after reports said the city’s leader was considering agreeing to a key demand of pro-democracy protesters, fueling hopes for an end to months of damaging protests in the financial hub.

Shares rallied across the board on the Hang Seng Index after the reports, with property and retail firms among the best performers, having taken a hiding over the past few weeks as the demonstrations were increasingly dogged by violence.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Beijing have refused to make any concessions to the protesters beyond agreeing to suspend a loathed extradition bill, a move that fell far short of demands to permanently shelve it.

But one pro-establishment lawmaker who asked to remain anonymous told AFP their camp was being summoned to meet Lam on Wednesday afternoon ahead of an expected major announcement.

Multiple news organizations later said Lam would announce a full withdrawal of the bill later in the afternoon.  

“The withdrawal is a sign of an inflection point in the 13-week-long crisis,” Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners, said. “Retail and property stock investors are signaling their optimism and putting their money where it matters.”

Hong Kong—which has more than a tenth of its value over the past three months, partly because of the protests—soared 3.4 percent in afternoon trade, while Shanghai ended 0.9 percent higher.

Most other Asian equity markets also rose after two days of stuttering. Tokyo ended 0.1 percent higher, Singapore added 1.4 percent, Seoul climbed 1.4 percent and Taipei added 0.9 percent. Wellington, Mumbai and Bangkok also posted strong gains.

President Trump threatened China that if it did not move quicker in negotiations it would get a worse trade deal from him if he won the 2020 election.

The tweet came as reports said the two sides were struggling to agree parameters for the next round of talks, which Trump had said would go ahead this month.

Beijing’s point man in the talks, Vice Premier Liu He, met two Republican senators Steve Daines and David Perdue on Tuesday in the Chinese capital and said he wanted a negotiated resolution based on “equality and mutual respect”, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The broad gains also came despite a shock drop in US factory activity into contraction—the first time since Trump came to power and raising concerns about the state of the world’s top economy. With AFP