PSEi tracks rise on Wall Street, Asian bourses

Philippine stocks rebounded on Thursday to track the increase on Wall Street and in Asian shares amid improving market sentiment globally.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 46.15 points or 0.74% to close at 6,225.78 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index climbed by 17.94 points or 0.53% to end at 3,357.57.

“After four straight sessions in negative territory, the market finally traded higher to close above 6,200. The index tracked the positive performance of US and Asian markets, with sentiment lifted by easing US Treasury yields and indications of softening US private sector business activity,” China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said in a Viber message.

Asian shares rallied on Thursday after blockbuster results from tech darling Nvidia boosted Wall Street and a retreat in US bond yields eased pressure on borrowing costs globally, Reuters reported.

A round of soft manufacturing surveys had also revived hopes central banks were done tightening, though that might change depending on what clues about interest rates US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell gives at an annual central bank summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.7%, also lifted by Nvidia’s bullish outlook.

On Wednesday, US stocks ended sharply higher across the board as shares of Nvidia jumped nearly 10% in trading after the bell, hitting an all-time high after it forecast third-quarter revenue well above Wall Street targets.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.54%, the S&P 500 gained 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.59%.

In US Treasuries, the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes reached 4.2076% compared with its US close of 4.198% on Wednesday when it eased from near 16-year highs after weak business activity data from the United States and the euro zone.

Local stocks rose following a decline in global oil prices, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort added in a Viber message.

US crude dipped 0.06% to USD 78.84 a barrel. Brent crude fell to USD 83.2 per barrel.

All sectoral indices rose on Thursday. Financials climbed by 27.79 points or 1.51% to 1,858.45; mining and oil went up by 84.37 points or 0.85% to 9,933.38; holding firms increased by 43.10 points or 0.73% to 5,883.63; property rose by 12.37 points or 0.47% to 2,598.49; services added 4.49 points or 0.29% to end at 1,519.35; and industrials inched up by 9.34 points or 0.1% to 8,724.12.

Value turnover dropped to PHP 3.31 billion on Thursday with 415.26 million shares changing hands from the PHP 3.62 billion with 347.47 million issues seen on Wednesday.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 102 versus 60, while 47 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling went down to PHP 263.91 million on Thursday from PHP 508.57 million on Wednesday. — SJT with Reuters