Market rallies; Alliance Global, Altus climb

Share prices rebounded Tuesday along with the rest of Asia, as traders welcomed positive economic data from China and the US, which helped offset a pick-up in virus infections and the reimposition of containment measures in some countries.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index surged 102.54 points, or 1.7 percent, to 6, 207.72 on a value turnover of P6.5 billion. Gainers beat losers, 118 to 70, with 54 issues unchanged.

Altus Property Ventures Inc.,  a unit of Robinsons Land Corp., jumped 49.9 percent to P41.60. 

Altus listed 100 million shares Friday with an initial listing price of P10.10 a share by way of introduction, or without an initial public offering.

Alliance Global Group Inc. of tycoon Andrew Tan advanced 4.6 percent to P6.80, while BDO Unibank Inc., the biggest lender in terms of assets, climbed 4.3 percent to P98.

Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-largest bank, rose 3.6 percent to P72.

The easing of lockdowns in recent months has been a key catalyst for world equities as investors”•supported by a wall of government and central bank cash”•bet on a sharp recovery from what is expected to be a global recession this year.

Wall Street provided a healthy lead, helped by news of a record 44-percent on-month jump in US pending home sales in June, as well as a massive improvement in manufacturing activity as reported by the Dallas Federal Reserve.

On Tuesday, China said its purchasing managers index (PMI) of factory activity improved on May and beat forecasts, while the non-manufacturing reading was also better than hoped.

The readings from the world’s top two economies provided some much-needed hope to investors that a rebound is stirring, helped by the reopening of businesses around the world, led by Europe.

Fed boss Jerome Powell lifted the mood with comments on the economic recovery as he said consumer spending had seen a big jump in May and the US economy had “entered an important new phase sooner than expected,” though he warned the recovery was dependent on keeping the virus in check.

Tokyo, Sydney, Wellington and Bangkok were all more than one percent higher, while Shanghai added 0.8 percent and Hong Kong gained 0.5 percent. There were also healthy gains in Singapore, Mumbai and Taipei.

“Worries about second-wave states appear now to be last week’s news, so it seems, as investors turn focus to the robust reopening narrative,” said AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes.

However, there remains a lot of uncertainty on trading floors owing to a spike in new cases in the US, which has led to the reclosure of bars in Los Angeles and the reimposition of measures to fight the disease elsewhere.

Germany, while pressing ahead with easing moves, has also been forced to lock down some districts, while there are also strict measures in place in parts of Beijing and Victoria state in Australia.

And World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pressed home the long fight ahead for the world, saying “the hard reality is this is not even close to being over,” adding that “although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.”  With AFP