The stock market closed almost flat Thursday in mixed trading, with some investors trading cautiously ahead of the release of 2018 corporate earnings.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index slipped 7.94 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,931.30 on a value turnover of nearly P7 billion. Gainers, however, beat losers, 106 to 90, with 56 issues unchanged.
Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fast-food chain, fell 1 percent to P307.20, while SM Prime Holdings Inc., the largest integrated property company, also dropped 1 percent to P38.50.
GT Capital Holdings Inc. of the Ty Group rose 1.6 percent to P1,035, while Puregold Price Club Inc. of retail tycoon Lucio Co gained 1.5 percent to P48.70.
The rest of Asian markets mostly rose Thursday on growing optimism that China and the US will finally resolve their long-running trade war, with a report saying the two sides were working on an outline for a deal.
Equities have enjoyed a stellar start to the year on hopes for the negotiations and expectations the Federal Reserve will ease up on its pace of monetary tightening as growth at home and globally slows.
The upbeat mood across the region was enhanced Thursday as Bloomberg News said negotiators were sketching out a number of memorandums of understanding on key issues including intellectual property and technology transfer.
Without naming sources, the report said no final agreement was expected in Washington this week but that China’s top negotiator Liu He would meet Donald Trump Friday.
After a cautious start, markets were up across Asia Thursday.
Hong Kong rose 0.3 percent but Shanghai dipped 0.3 percent after fluctuating through the day. The yuan was sitting around its strongest level against the dollar since July, with support also coming from other reports that the US is calling in China not to weaken it to offset the impact of tariffs.
Tokyo ended up 0.2 percent, while Sydney rose 0.7 percent, Wellington added 0.6 percent and Taipei 0.5 percent.
There were also gains in Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta, while Singapore was flat though Seoul dipped.
While there has been no concrete sign of progress, Trump has insisted the talks are going “very well” and has indicated he could push back a deadline for a deal to be done.
However, observers warned of turmoil if expectations were not met.
“There’s a lot of optimism baked into global markets on the outcome of the negotiations and precisely zero detail on the actual result,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.
“A suboptimal outcome could make for a potentially ugly correction in equities and currencies in particular.”
On Wednesday, minutes from the Fed’s latest policy meeting showed its board was concerned about the global outlook and trade tensions, and said US growth would “step down” from last year’s rapid pace.
It also said it expects to continue to wind down its balance sheet of securities and other assets—which helps keep borrowing costs down—but added “it was not yet clear” what rate moves “may be appropriate later this year.” With AFP