Index snaps slide as Wall St rebounds

MANILA, Philippines - The rebound in Wall St. and investor positioning ahead of the earnings season allowed the main index to end in positive territory yesterday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.49 percent or 32.11 points to 6,621.66, while the broader All Shares index rose 0.33 percent or 12.95 points to 3,988.57.

“Share prices snapped two days of decline as investors took their cue from a triple-digit overnight advance in the Dow Jones to beef up equity portfolios still a month or so ahead of the local first quarter earnings season,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

On Monday, Wall St. was pushed higher by Citigroup’s earnings and robust retail sales data despite geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.91 percent or 146.49 points to end at 16,173.24, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index improved 0.82 percent or 14.92 points to 1,830.61.

Closer to home, Asian stocks were mixed, with some markets dragged by the slowdown in the growth of money supply in world’s second largest economy China. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.62 percent or 86.65 points to 13,996.81.

At home, all counters were in the green, led by financial firms that rose 1.17 percent or 18.40 points to 1,596.09 while mining and oil closed 0.85 percent or 128.07 points higher at 15,215.65.

Eduardo V. Francisco, president of BDO Capital & Investment Corp., said foreign buyers continued supporting local stocks, resulting in decent volume despite the incoming Lenten season holiday.

The value of shares traded hit P7.05 billion, up from P5.57 billion on Monday. Advancers outplayed decliners, 107 to 70, while 44 stocks did not change.

Most active issues were in the positive territory, paced by top-traded PLDT (+0.58 percent), SM Prime Holdings Inc. (+1.18 percent) and SM Investments Corp. (+0.21 percent).