Stocks rebounded Tuesday on bargain hunting along with the rest of Asia as investors tried to recover from the previous day’s losses.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 33.56 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,709.60 on a value turnover of P4.7 billion. Gainers edged losers, 95 to 89, with 50 issues unchanged.
Major property developer Ayala Land Inc. of the Ayala Group advanced 3.1 percent to P29.90, while AbaCore Capital Holdings Inc., a company that holds an exclusive right to lease online lottery equipment for the lotto operations of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in Visayas and Mindanao, climbed 3.6 percent to P2.58.
Metropolitan Bank &Trust Co. of the Ty Group, the second-biggest lender in terms of assets, added 1.1 percent to P53.50, but conglomerate San Miguel Corp., the largest beer maker, fell 1.3 percent to P98.
Meanwhile, Asian investors squeezed out gains Tuesday but they remain gripped by fears over Europe’s worsening energy crisis, China’s economic slowdown and central bank efforts to contain surging inflation.
The dollar lost some momentum, with the euro supported ahead of an expected European Central Bank interest rate hike and sterling lifted by reports that new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss will unveil plans to cut energy bills.
Russia’s decision not to resume gas supplies to Europe—in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine—sent shock waves through trading floors Monday as it ramped up expectations of a painful recession in major economies.
“This shouldn’t have been a surprise to most people, given that it was widely expected that Putin would play this card at some point,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
“Now that he has, Russia doesn’t really have anywhere else to go, and while natural gas prices did shoot higher, they closed well off the highs of the day.”
With Wall Street closed for a holiday, Asia had few new catalysts to drive buying.
Markets fluctuated between gains and losses in the morning but managed to clamber up as the day progressed.
Shanghai enjoyed a healthy bounce after China unveiled fresh economy-boosting measures.
But analysts warned that while a stimulus was welcomed as growth dwindles, traders were only looking for signs of an easing in the country’s zero-COVID strategy, which has left millions in lockdown and threatens economic activity.
Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta all rose, while Tokyo was marginally up and Hong Kong inched down.
Sydney dipped after the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted interest rates to a near eight-year high and warned of more pain ahead. Wellington also slipped.
“A lot of clients are asking, have we seen the bottom yet and are we going into a global recession?” Grace Tam, of BNP Paribas Wealth Management Hong Kong, told Bloomberg Television.
“We do think the risk of a global recession, especially next year, is actually quite high” and that the energy crisis “is not fully priced” into markets, she said.
The next key event for investors is the ECB rate decision Thursday, with some observers tipping a 75 basis point hike to bring down record-high inflation. With AFP