Stocks near 1-year high, reach 8,000

MANILA, Philippines -  Share prices climbed to their highest level in nearly a year, boosted by another record performance on Wall Street and a surge in  global oil prices, analysts said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 65.79 points to close at  8,037.51 while the broader All Shares index rose 26.47 points to settle at 4,779.80.

“Today’s closing level is the highest for the index since Aug. 10, 2016 when it closed at 8,051.40 points,” the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said.

Total value turnover was likewise robust at P8.173 billion. Advancing stocks paced out losers, 98 to 94 while 60 issues were unchanged.

But analysts said it may be too early to pop the champagne bottles just yet.

Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities said it’s better to wait for a few more days to see if the trend would continue because yesterday’s volume – at the P8 billion level – isn’t very indicative.

“We need a few more days to see,” he said.

COL Financial  said investors remain highly skeptical about the PSE’s ability to break above the 8,100 mark. 

“Aside from already failing to do so twice in the past, other reasons include the Marawi crisis, the weak peso, the tapering of the US and European central banks and the PSEi’s expensive valuation. However, we think that these are not issues or noises that we should merely ignore,” COL Financial said.

Paul Angelo, senior analyst, also from Regina Capital said it may be sustained especially if second quarter results are rosy.

 “I think it will be sustained. I’m hopeful it will be sustained,” he said.

Investment banker and corporate finance advisor Tony Herbosa said there is a possibility that the index would be sustained above the 8,000 mark.

 “Gut feel is that it is going to try to break the 8,100 all time high…many stocks are showing signs of running up,” he said.

Meawhile,  oil’s rise back above $50 a barrel helped prod global stock markets higher on Wednesday and company results and economic data continued to soothe worries that the world economy may be ripe for  another slowdown.

European stock markets were mainly higher, led by energy and commodity-linked companies after Brent crude topped the $50 mark for the first time since early June.

A slightly less bullish performance in Asia pulled the MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 46 countries, off all-time highs overnight. But early in the European session, it was up 0.1 percent on the day.

“The indications are more positive on the outlook for energy stocks. While there was a lot of kitchen sinking from firms in the second quarter numbers, they have reset the expectations over the valuations now, they have cleaned up balance sheets,” said Angelo Meda, head of equities at Banor SIM in Milan.

The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.3 percent, in line with euro zone stocks and blue-chips, as oil and gas stocks gained 0.8 percent.

The latter numbers helped the dollar recover some ground in U.S. and Asian trading on Tuesday, with traders citing a trimming of positions ahead of the Fed meeting, not due until late in the U.S. session. (1800 GMT)

The dollar, hurt since March by a retreat in expectations for further rises in interest rates this year, gained just over 0.1 percent against both the euro and the euro-dominated basket of currencies most used to measure its broader strength. – With Reuters