Stocks rebounded Wednesday, taking a positive lead from Wall Street and on growing hopes that Britain and the European Union are close to a Brexit deal.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, gained 74 points, or 1 percent, to close at 7,915.30 following a 0.6-percent decline a day earlier.
The broader all-share index also advanced 23 points, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 4,763.60 on a value turnover of P5.55 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 93 to 87, while 62 issues were unchanged.
Sixteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Phinma Energy Corp. which climbed 8.2 percent to P2.77 and conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. which picked up 4.1 percent to P73.90.
Meanwhile, Brexit hopes also provided some support to equity markets in Asia on Wednesday, with Tokyo and Sydney more than one percent higher while Singapore added 0.9 percent.
There were strong gains in Seoul, Mumbai, Taipei, Wellington, Bangkok and Jakarta.
A rally on Wall Street helped buying sentiment following a strong start to the US earnings season.
Hong Kong also climbed but suffered a brief mid-session drop after the city’s leader Carrie Lam was forced to abandon a State of the Union-style policy speech owing to heckling by opposition lawmakers.
She later delivered it by video, announcing plans to increase housing and land supply in a city that has one of the least affordable property markets in the world, as well as various subsidies.
Shanghai ended lower with investors moving cautiously as China said it would take “strong measures” after the US House of Representatives passed a bill sought by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong that aims to defend civil rights in the city.
If passed by the Senate, the law would end the Hong Kong-US special trading status unless the State Department certifies annually that city authorities are respecting human rights and the rule of law.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in a statement that the US should “stop meddling”.
The move fanned concerns that the issue could muddy the waters in China-US trade talks, just days after the two reached a mini agreement.
“While considering Hong Kong a separate trading entity is still an implausible scenario at this point… it could potentially derail trade talks indefinitely regardless of who’s in power after election 2020,” said Stephen Innes at AxiTrader.
Adding to the sense of unease was a report saying China wanted the US to remove the threat of new tariffs slated for December before it could ramp up its purchase of agricultural goods, which was part of Friday’s agreement.
The Bloomberg News story cited sources as saying Beijing would not buy the $40 billion to $50 billion of products Donald Trump claimed it would unless the levies were lifted.
In early trade, London dipped 0.1 percent, weighed by the stronger pound, while Paris was flat and Frankfurt edged 0.1 percent higher. With AFP