Index rebounds on strong US economic data

MANILA, Philippines - The local benchmark index rebounded yesterday from a sluggish Thursday session on the back of positive US data.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 0.10 percent or 7.23 points to end at 7,276.18 while the All Shares index climbed 0.17 percent or 7.21 points to 4,278.39.

Analysts said the US data indicating that the country is gaining economic strength helped pushed the local shares upward to close the week in positive territory.

“General sentiment is still bullish. There’s still a lot of money floating in the market,” said Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc.

Wall Street rallied overnight, led by a push made by Nasdaq as it improved 0.56 percent or 26.16 points. The S&P 500 and the Dow both ended in the green as well, climbing 0.20 and 0.19 percent, respectively.

Locally, most counters ended in positive territory except for property firms which lost 0.46 percent or 13.25 points.

Mining and oil firms posted the highest gain of 0.75 percent or 117.24 points during yesterday’s session.

Market breadth finally broke free from its 14-day losing streak as advancers edged out decliners, 91 to 82, while 51 stocks were unchanged.

Value turnover thinned to P9.26 billion after it soared to P21 billion the previous day.