Wall St rally buoys Phl stocks

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) returned above the 7,100 mark yesterday, spurred by the upbeat performance of the US market.

The PSEi climbed 1.22 percent or 86.19 points to close at 7,154.22, while the broader All Shares index also picked up 0.98 percent or 41.06 points at 4,218.29.

It was the bellwether index’ first trip back to the 7,100 level since closing 7,167.35 on Oct.10. Since then, the market traded sideways, even falling below the 7,000 mark on Oct. 13 to Oct. 15.

“US markets’ overnight rally based on ECB’s asset purchase plan encouraged buying,” said Jason T. Escartin, investment analyst at F. Yap Securities.

In Wall Street, the Dow gained 215.14 points, the Nasdaq added 103.40 points, and the S&P 500 increased 37.27 points.

Asian shares were also mostly up on the back of the strong US market.

Locally, all counters finished on the green led by the property and financials counters. Property firms climbed 2.48 percent while financial firms grew 2.17 percent.

Market breadth was positive as advancers crushed decliners, 111 to 67, while 41 stocks did not change.

Value turnover, however, fell P6.70 billion from P7.12 billion on Tuesday.