Stocks sustain rally for 2nd straight day

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market continued to rally yesterday, extending gains for the second consecutive session.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained by 87.29 points, or 1.64 percent, to finish at 5,408.52.

Likewise, the broader All Shares index rose by 41.04 points, or 1.26 percent, to finish at 3,278.81.

Most indexes finished in positive territory, but total value turnover remained thin at P5.58 billion.

Traders said market investors continue to decide on the basis of the how the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic is addressed.

“As it has been in the last couple of weeks, COVID-19 trumps all other narratives that influence investor sentiment - and will likely remain so going forward.  On Tuesday,, markets in Asia and Europe cheered Chinese factory data which beat expectations. This, however, failed to spill over to the US markets which registered negative at the close. Early on, Japanese stocks dropped -1.36 percent while, the KOSPI kicks off flat with a slight negative bias,” said Justino Calaycay of Philstocks Financials.

He said first quarter numbers would be lower for most companies, here and abroad.

“Hands down, first quarter numbers will be lower – it’s only a question of how low (or slow) the economies – and by extension corporate earnings – have gone. Worse, there could be some that may have even contracted. These numbers are still to be officially reported, but fair expectations are negative in relation to the forecasts at the beginning of the year,” Calaycay said.

He said the uncertainty of when the COVID-19 would end, how it would conclude, how much damage it does, keeps a dark cloud on the prospects and estimations of a recovery for many companies.