The stock market rose Tuesday ahead of the release of first-quarter GDP figures and the meeting of the Monetary Board Thursday with select blue chips leading the gains.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 44.29 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,577.57 on a value turnover of P7.2 billion. Gainers edged losers, 98 to 96, with 48 issues unchanged.
The government is set to release the gross domestic product numbers in the first quarter of 2018 on Thursday. Moody’s Analytics, a division of Moody’s Corp., earlier said the Philippine economy likely grew 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, faster than the actual expansion of 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 and 6.4 percent a year ago, on robust consumer spending and higher government expenditures.
Globe Telecom Inc., the second-biggest telecommunications company, advanced 4.1 percent to P1,645, while the larger PLDT Inc. climbed 2.6 percent to P1,380.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. surged 4.8 percent to P33.90, while casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. rose 2.4 percent to P12.08 after reporting that it registered a record net income of P3.69 billion in the first three months of the year, up 71 percent year-on-year.
Asian equity markets, meanwhile, continued Monday’s broadly positive performance, with Hong Kong leading the way ahead of the release of Chinese trade data.
The Hang Seng piled on 1.3 percent, while Shanghai gained 0.8 percent, Tokyo finished 0.2 percent higher and Sydney added 0.2 percent.
Singapore added 0.3 percent and Taipei put on 0.8 percent with Wellington also in positive territory. But Seoul ended down 0.5 percent.
Oil prices slipped in Asia on Tuesday morning from three-and-a-half-year highs as investors cautiously await Donald Trump’s Iran nuclear decision later in the day.
The US president announced in a tweet that he would make an announcement at 1800 GMT on whether or not to tear up the agreement with Tehran and reimpose painful sanctions that could cut off crude supplies.
Despite being urged by world leaders to keep it in place, there is a general consensus that he will refuse to preserve the 2015 pact, fanning fears of fresh turmoil in the already tinderbox Middle East.
This—along with an output cap by Russia and Opec, rising US demand and an improving economy—has helped send the price of oil to highs not seen since late 2014, though profit-taking saw both main contracts retreat Tuesday.
“Oil has raced higher recently on the back of concerns that President Trump will exit the US from the Iran nuclear deal and that this would then lead to a further deterioration in the situation in the Middle East not to mention the disruption to oil supplies of Iran’s production,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
He added that there was a “perfect storm for higher prices” owing to crude-rich Venezuela’s economic woes, which have been made worse by fresh US sanctions.
However, Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA, said “we could be on for significant knee-jerk reaction (sending prices down) if the president walks back the more boisterous elements of hawkish Iran rhetoric.” With AFP