PSEi bucks regional downtrend on positive earnings results

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market rallied yesterday after a long weekend, bucking sluggish regional markets behind a slew of positive corporate earnings results.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index surged 133.86 points, or 1.73 percent, to finish at 7,885.97, while the broader All Shares index added 60.99 points, or 1.30 percent to settle at 4,770.14.

Value turnover, which has been a lingering concern among analysts coming into the week, expanded to P8.66 billion from its average of P5.8 billion last week.

Tuesday’s performance was the first time the benchmark index finished above the 7,800 level this month, the last being on April 30 when it closed at 7,819.25.

Analysts attributed yesterday’s rally to positive corporate earnings results that served as catalysts for investors.

This is despite downtrend in most markets in the region, such as Japan’s Nikkei 225 (down 0.2 percent), South Korea’s Kospi (down 0.7 percent) and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (down 1.1 percent).

Locally, property and holding firms did the heavy lifting, closing 4.80 percent and 1.35 percent higher, respectively.

Advancers edged decliners, 110 to 91, while 47 stocks were unchanged.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks pulled back yesterday, brushing off a firmer lead from Wall Street, as investors turned cautious after soft Chinese economic data and awaited fresh developments on US-China trade talks and North Korea.