Stocks rebound as Trump delays China tariffs

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine stock market ended in positive territory yesterday, joining its Asian peers after President Trump delayed tariffs on some China goods, analysts said.

The main composite index  climbed by 70.20 points, to close at 7,858.65, while the broader All Shares gauge rose 26.70 points or 0.56 percent to end at 4,768.92.

Most indexes were up except for the holding firms which dropped 0.15 percent. The industrial and property sectors led the gains with an increase of 2.12 percent and 1.99 percent, respectively.

Total value turnover reached P6.560 billion. Market breadth was positive, 112 to 83 while 40 issues were left unchanged.

Traders said the market welcomed the delay in the tariffs to be slapped on China.

“Asian equities’ markets bounced back today after a surge in Western equities last night due to delay in implementing the 10 percent tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of goods from China. Tariffs were supposed to come into play on Sept. 1 but will now be delayed to Dec. 15,” said Christopher Mangun of AAA Securities.

“Here at the PSE, the main index ends the day up 0.90 percent after starting the day nearly flat. The surge was led by gains in property stocks, specifically Ayala Land Inc. and SM Prime Holdings. Sy-led companies also backed them up with gains in SM and BDO. Surprisingly, JFC also had an incredible day, up 7.7 percent,” Mangun said, referring to specific issues.

Foreign investors, however, continue to flee the market with net-foreign selling at P959 million.