Stock index rises after rally on Wall Street

MANILA, Philippines — Local stocks rose for the third straight day yesterday following a rally on Wall Street as worries over banks after the collapses of several lenders in recent weeks receded.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed 0.21 percent or 13.78 points higher at 6,644.75, while the broader All Shares index added 0.26 percent or 9.07 points to 3,538.73.

A total of 49,230 trades valued at P4.026 billion were made yesterday, with advancers outnumbering decliners, 98 to 72, while 53 issues were unchanged.

“Philippine shares marched up amid the strong tech gains in the US market, as well as the easing concerns around the status of the banking sector,” Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said. Claire Alviar of Philstocks Financials also attributed yesterday’s gains to the continued easing of banking fears.

“BSP Governor Felipe Medalla has reassured investors that the local banks remain robust and that the recent monetary tightening measures do not pose any significant risks to the overall financial stabil_ity of the Philippines,” she said.

Forceful actions by regulators worldwide have helped to calm markets as investors have turned their focus to how central banks might adjust their interest rate policies to reflect persisting worries over how higher rates might affect lenders.

The month has been dominated by worries about banks and whether the industry is cracking under the pressure of much higher interest rates.

But a measure of fear among stock investors on Wall Street has fallen to nearly where it was on March 8, the day before Silicon Valley Bank’s customers suddenly yanked out $42 billion in a panicked dash. It became the second-largest US bank failure in history and sparked harsher scrutiny of banks around the world.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced the sale of much of Silicon Valley Bank’s assets early this week. Regulators have also announced programs to help banks raise cash and indicated support for depositors in case of crisis.