Investors switch to bargain hunting, lift stocks up

MANILA, Philippines — Investors switched to bargain hunting mode yesterday after a session of profit taking, lifting the main index higher.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index or PSEi closed the week in positive territory yesterday, ending at 7,027.38, up 41.19 points or 0.59 percent from Thursday’s close.

Likewise, the broader All Shares index gained 21.68 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 3,705.46.

Trading was strong with net value turnover posting P18.72 billion, higher than year-to-date average of P7.01 billion.

Japhet Tantiangco, an analyst at Philstocks Financial, said last-minute buying sent the local market higher yesterday as investors hunted for bargains from the previous day’s decline.

Around Asia, most stock markets also rose yesterday as investors awaited the key US non-farm payrolls report for further clues about the Federal Reserve policy after dovish signals from global central banks.

Market participants are now awaiting the US non-farm payrolls report, due later in the day, to gauge the strength of the labor market.

“A positive result may trigger some US dollar strength as markets price in more rate hikes and delayed rate cuts from the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee),” MUFG Bank analysts said in a note.

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) hiked their rates by 50 basis points each on Thursday.

The hikes came a day after the Fed delivered a 25-basis-point increase and Chair Jerome Powell said the “disinflationary” process in the world’s largest economy had started.

“Market players viewed recent decisions of major central banks to be more dovish than expected,” said Poon Panichpibool, a markets strategist at Krung Thai Bank.

Economists expect the US jobs report to show a slowdown in hiring. The job market has largely remained resilient despite big rate hikes by the Federal Reserve over the last year.