Stocks recover as Asia bourses upbeat

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market rebounded yesterday, along with regional markets following China’s announcement of faster-than-expected fourth quarter growth.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rallied 1.07 percent, or 95.18 points, to finish at 8,915.92.

The broader All Shares index, meanwhile, rose 35.20 points, or 0.68 percent, to finish at 5,151.07.

Most counters were upbeat led by the financial sector.

Total value turnover was robust at P10.021 billion. Market breadth was negative, 127 to 105 while 54 issues were left unchanged.

During yesterday’s session, Bank of the Philippine Islands recovered by six percent to an all-time high, while BDO Unibank firmed 3.2 percent.

“Most Asian stocks managed modest gains Friday although investors cast nervous eyes at the US, where legislation to prevent a Federal government shutdown was proceeding through Congress,” said David Cottle, analyst at DailyFx.

He said optimism about global growth in the wake of Thursday’s official Chinese growth numbers kept Asian stocks on an upbeat mood.

“The Nikkei added 0.2 percent with most other regional bourses in the green. Australia’s ASX 200 was an exception, it wilted under the pressure of a little blue-chip weakness to end down 0.2 percent,” he said.

The closely-watched MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan climbed 0.3 percent to hit an all-time high.