Stocks rose Friday on growing optimism in the business sector amid the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the faster pace of the government’s vaccination rollout.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 64.40 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,297.66 on a value turnover of P14.5 billion. Losers, however, edged losers, 92 to 89, with 47 issues unchanged.
Results of the Business Expectations Survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show that the outlook of business owners on the economy turned optimistic in the fourth quarter as the overall confidence index reverted to the positive territory at 39.7 percent—the highest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country in the first quarter of 2020. That compares with negative 5.6 percent in the third quarter of 2021.
PLDT Inc., the biggest telecommunications firm, advanced 5 percent to P1,900, while GT Capital Holdings Inc. of the Ty Group climbed 4.1 percent to P590.
Converge ICT Solutions Inc., a major fiber broadband service provider, gained 3.6 percent at P32, but noodles maker Monde Nissin Corp. fell 4.2 percent to P15.32.
The rest of Asian equities mostly fell Friday, pulling back from the previous day’s rally as traders consider central bank plans to combat soaring inflation by ending the era of ultra-cheap cash, while also navigating a COVID-19 infection spike that threatens an already fragile economic recovery.
Tokyo lost 1.8 percent while Singapore, Wellington, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta also dropped into the red. Sydney, Seoul and Taipei edged up.
With prices rising at their fastest pace in four decades, the Fed this week set itself on a much more hawkish path to get them under control by pledging to end its vast bond-buying program by March and indicating a series of interest rate hikes that could run through 2023.
The news on Wednesday was met with a rally across US and Asian markets as investors welcomed an end to the some of the uncertainty that had hung over markets for months, and a Fed plan to rein in inflation.
OANDA’s Craig Erlam said a gauge of possible rate hikes “was towards the hawkish end of expectations, something investors welcomed with open arms.”
“It’s not often those two things have been said together since the global financial crisis. In fact, it may be a first. The last time the Fed raised rates, it faced strong criticism from some, most notably President Trump.
“This time, it’s not the possibility of inflation, rather the prospect of it rising out of control that’s prompting the move and clearly, investors fear inflation far more than modest tightening. As they should.”
A Bank of England rate hike on Thursday and the European Central Bank’s plan to taper its own financial support—but extending other help—were met with similar upbeat responses in Europe.
However, Wall Street’s three main indexes retreated Thursday as investors took stock of the new policy, with tech firms—which are more susceptible to higher borrowing costs—taking the brunt of the selling, sending the Nasdaq down more than two percent. With AFP