MANILA, Philippines - Hefty gains in blue chips and easing geopolitical tensions abroad boosted the bellwether index to a 14-month high, closing past the 7,000 level for the first time this year.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index climbed 1.07 percent or 74.76 points to 7,061, its highest since closing at 7,228.57 on May 29, 2013. The broader All Shares index rose 0.56 percent or 23.25 points to 4,200.80.
“The Philippine market advanced with strength as easing geopolitical tensions gave investors an opportunity to focus on earnings and inflows further stimulated the advance as the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) began rebalancing their weightings,” said Gab Aguila of DA Market Securities.
Aguila said stocks included in the MSCI’s recalibrated list of preferred stocks were PLDT (+4.03 percent), Ayala Corp. (+3.38 percent), Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (+1.18 percent), BDO Unibank (+0.77 percent) and Energy Development Corp. (+2.49 percent).
Asian stocks generally climbed yesterday on hopes that weak economic data will prompt monetary authorities not to jack up interest rates in the meantime. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.66 percent or 100.94 points to 15,314.57.
Wall St. gained on Wednesday, led by biotech stocks despite weak retail sales data. The Dow Jones industrial average improved 0.55 percent or 91.26 points to end at 16,651.80, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 0.67 percent or 12.97 points to 1,946.72.
At home, all counters, save for mining and oil that slipped 0.36 percent or 63.05 points to 17,516.03, were in the positive territory.