Stocks rebounded Thursday following overnight gains on Wall Street as investors now focus on a crucial congressional vote on US healthcare reform.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, advanced 46 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 7,301.03, as three of the six major sectors—holding firms, services and mining and oil—posted gains.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also went up 17 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 4,386.67, on a value turnover of P5.6 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 94 to 83, while 58 issues were unchanged.
Thirteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. which climbed 3.7 percent to P81.95 and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. which rose 1.8 percent to P6.11. PLDT Inc. went up 1.8 percent to P1,545.
Meanwhile, most Asian stocks also traded higher Thursday. However, the increases were marginal compared with the sharp sell-off suffered on Wednesday when equities tumbled across the board on fears Donald Trump’s economy-boosting measures could be delayed by his struggles to push through his repeal of Obamacare.
There is widespread belief the tycoon’s health system proposals will fall foul of lawmakers with many of his Republican counterparts opposed to numerous parts of it and raising questions about the fate of promised infrastructure spending, tax cuts and deregulation.
Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader, said: “A not inconsiderable risk is that the administration gets bogged down in the repeal of Obamacare, spends its political capital, and delays the tax and infrastructure plans that so boosted the market.”
McKenna added that the head of the Office of Management and Budget had said full details of the 2018 budget would not be available until May, adding to investors worries.
But Wall Street’s three main indexes climbed Wednesday, giving some impetus to Asia, which followed suit in early trade.
Tokyo was up 0.1 percent by the break, Hong Kong added 0.3 percent, Shanghai put on 0.2 percent, Sydney also gained 0.2 percent and Seoul was 0.3 percent higher. Singapore, Manila and Jakarta also eked out small gains.
“Despite the amount of ink spilt over the healthcare vote, fundamentally the US economic landscape looks bright, and investors were quick to snap up bargains,” Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA, said in a note.
“With little on the economic calendar, traders remain glued to the shifting tides of the healthcare negotiations.”
The dollar enjoyed some tentative buying, edging up slightly against its major peers but it is still stuck at five-month lows against the yen. With Bloomberg, AFP