Stocks rebound on prospects of faster economic recovery

MANILA, Philippines — Share prices recovered from Wednesday’s bloodbath, bucking the downturn in most Asian markets, on prospects of a faster economic rebound as more COVID vaccines roll out.

As coronavirus vaccines move closer to distribution, markets have been pushing higher on hopes the pandemic will begin to ease, allowing economies to recover.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 51.77 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 7,154.43 while the broader All Shares gauge gained 17.79 points or 0.41 percent to close at 4,270.92.

A total of P7.638 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday in a session that finished with positive market breadth, 121 to 108, while 41 issues were unchanged.

However, net foreign selling still prevailed at P153.84 million as foreign buying amounted to P2.6 billion and foreign selling reached P2.8 billion.

Traders said the market is regaining momentum but investors have yet to be convinced to really stay invested in stocks as they are still waiting for positive developments such as the arrival of a vaccine against COVID-19 in the Philippines and the further recovery of the economy without resulting in another surge in virus cases.

Some countries such as the UK have already started their vaccine shots while Asian neighbors such as Indonesia have also started ordering the vials for their citizens.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said investors also weighed the prospects of a new fiscal stimulus program in the US.

Around Asia, stocks were mostly lower after weakness in technology and health services companies’ shares led an overnight decline on Wall Street.