PSEi rebounds, outperforms Asian peers

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index or PSEi closed at 7,293.52, up 54.24 points or 0.75 percent, while the broader All Shares index rose 13.56 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 3,869.40.

A total of P5.519 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday, with gainers slightly edging up losers, 94 to 93, while 53 issues were unchanged.

Foreign funds were net sellers for the sixth straight day at P211 million. AB Capital Securities said gains in the property sector pushed the market after heavyweights

SM Prime and Ayala Land gained 2.66 percent and 1.61 percent, respectively. Around Asia, South Korea and Taiwan stocks fell more than one percent each, leading falls across emerging markets, after US stocks took a hit overnight on fears the Federal Reserve may tighten policy more aggressively.

Markets have now priced in four interest rate hikes by the Fed this year, including one as soon as March.

The prospect has also placed Asia’s central banks on watch, leaving policymakers with the difficult decisions of protecting economic recovery  in their countries while maintainingstability and stemming potential outflows.

“Emerging Asian economies are not only disadvantaged in access to dollar funding under constraint, but are acutely vulnerable to capital outflows from a double whammy of rising long-end ‘risk-free’ US Treasury yields and rising ‘risk premium’,” Mizuho said in a note. Central banks in Malaysia and Indonesia held their keypolicy rates steady ahead of the Fed’s Jan. 25-26 meeting, where investors will be keenly watching out for hawkish signals.