The stock market rose for the third straight day Thursday on prospects of a strong economy this year and the next.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index jumped 151.85 points, or 2 percent, to 7,665.85 on a value turnover of P6.7 billion. Gainers overwhelmed losers, 125 to 79, with 42 issues unchanged.
The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday kept its 2018 growth forecast for the Philippines at 6.7 percent and predicted the economy would sustain the pace in 2018 and 2019.
Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., which is into power generation and distribution, banking, flour mill, cement manufacturing, and infrastructure, surged 5.3 percent to P54.95.
SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. advanced 3.9 percent to P969, while unit SM Prime Holdings Inc. climbed 3.3 percent to P37.50. JG Summit Holdings Inc. of industrialist John Gokongwei gained 3.7 percent to P54.95.
The rest of Asian stocks mostly fell Thursday as investor relief at US President Donald Trump and the European Commission chief’s plan to ease trade tensions was offset by disappointing Wall Street earnings.
Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker announced the agreement after talks Wednesday at the White House, as the two major economies sought to end the dispute that had rattled markets and sparked fears of an all-out global trade war.
The plan means Washington will not follow through with a threat to impose tariffs on autos, which would hurt the dominant German car industry, while the pair also vowed to look at existing duties on steel and aluminum imposed by the US that had angered the EU.
Asian bourses initially made gains at the open Thursday, tracking overnight advances in the US. But most exchanges quickly fell back into negative territory with analysts blaming the lackluster US results, from companies including social networking giant Facebook and major carmakers.
Tokyo closed down 0.1 percent, with speculation that the Bank of Japan could review its buying of exchange-traded funds to invest in listed companies at a meeting next week adding to negative sentiment.
Shanghai ended 0.7 percent lower, Sydney closed flat while Hong Kong was down 0.5 percent.
Seoul bucked the negative trend, rising 0.7 percent, as investors cheered official data showing that economic growth in the second quarter met expectations.
The EU-US deal had given American equities a “late boost,” said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at trading group IG.
But she added that “the blips in the latest US earnings performances look to undercut some of these positive inspirations for the Asian region.”
The biggest shock of Wednesday’s results came from Facebook, which reported a stunningly weak financial outlook that raised fresh concerns for the company giant as it tries to recover from the impact of data protection scandals and investigations.
After-hours trade saw Facebook shares plunge by some 21 percent, wiping out an estimated $130 billion in market value if the slump is confirmed at Thursday’s market opening. With AFP