Market slightly up; PLDT, Dito lead gainers

The stock market nearly closed flat Tuesday, with the benchmark index staying below 6,000 points as investors stayed on the sidelines in the absence of catalysts that could lift share prices higher.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added just 9.86 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,953.44 on a value turnover of nearly P4.6 billion. Losers, however, beat gainers, 109 to 84, with 51 issues unchanged.

Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group advanced 4.4 percent to P70, while PLDT Inc., the biggest telecommunications company, rose 3.4 percent to P1,448.

Dito CME Holdings Corp. of businessman Dennis Uy, the third major telecom firm, climbed 4.7 percent to P3.35, but Manila Water Co. Inc., a unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp., fell 2.1 percent to P13.22.

The rest of Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday with investors taking reassurance from news that China and the US had agreed to press on with their trade pact, while hopes for a virus treatment provided extra support.

The gains followed yet another record day on Wall Street as cases appear to be slowing in the United States, but also as Europe sees a worrying surge and as Hong Kong researchers identified what they said was the first confirmed case of reinfection.

China and the US provided dealers with some much-needed cheer after announcing top representatives had held phone talks on their trade agreement signed in January.

There had been concerns about the future of the deal as the superpowers’ relationship grows increasingly fraught over various issues including Hong Kong, the virus, Huawei and TikTok.

But on Tuesday, the commerce ministry said Vice Premier Liu He spoke to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and both sides “agreed to create conditions and atmosphere to continue to push forward the implementation of the phase-one of the China-US economic and trade agreement.”

The US side added in a separate statement that the two had discussed steps China had agreed to address in the agreement, including intellectual property and forced technology transfer.

“The parties also discussed the significant increases in purchases of US products by China as well as future actions needed to implement the agreement. Both sides see progress and are committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure the success of the agreement,” it added.

While there was an expectation the deal would remain intact, the news will take away one key matter of concern for investors.

Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore all jumped more than one percent, while Sydney gained 0.5 percent and Taipei put on 0.9 percent with Mumbai gaining 0.1 percent. Bangkok and Jakarta were also higher.

However, Hong Kong and Shanghai were slightly lower.

Markets were already buoyant on growing optimism that a vaccine for the coronavirus is close, with Donald Trump said to be considering fast-tracking an experimental treatment from Britain that could be ready for use by November.

That followed news that the US Food and Drug Administration is looking to expand access to a virus treatment involving blood plasma from recovered patients. With AFP