Share prices get lift from global trade deals

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rallied yesterday as market investors cheered the US-China trade deal and decided to look for some bargains.

The PSEi gained 69.40 points, or 0.90 percent, to settle at 7,722.58, while the broader All Shares index rose 20.19 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 4,551.19.

All gauges were up led by the industrial and financial indexes.

Total value turnover reached P6.271 billion. Market breadth was positive with 99 gainers against 77 losers, while 53 issues were left unchanged.

“Philippine shares rallied yesterday, along with regional benchmarks indexes closing at new records, following the signing of a trade truce between the US and China on Wednesday and Senate approval of a new trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada on Thursday,” said Regina Capital analysts Luis Limlingan.

He said European stocks traded higher as well as investors reacted to the signing of a partial trade deal between the US and China.

In all, traders said this meant positive developments around the world, translating to positive sentiment in global stock markets including the Philippines.

Meawhile, global stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Friday after China reported a 6.1 percent economic growth in 2019 and Washington and Beijing signed an interim trade agreement.            

London and Frankfurt opened higher, while Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced after the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index hit a new high and Google parent Alphabet passed $1 trillion in market value, joining Amazon, Apple and Microsoft in the $1 trillion club.

China’s economic growth was the lowest since 1990 but forecasters pointed to improved activity in December. They said Wednesday’s signing of a truce in the war over Beijing’s technology ambitions and trade surplus might help to revive consumer and business confidence.