Philippine stocks join global rally

MANILA, Philippines - The stock market continued to climb yesterday, taking its cue from a global stocks rally  after the European Central Bank signaled its readiness to inject more stimulus to stoke the euro zone economy.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rallied 118.60 points, or 1.66 percent, to close at 7,236.38.  The broader All Shares index gained 56.55 points or 1.37 percent.

All other indices also closed higher, which analysts attributed to a host of positive leads.

 “The string of good news coming from the US, China and European Central Bank fired up our markets’s rally. It gave enough fuel for investors to accumulate more stocks in their portfolio,” said Astro Del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc.

The good news from China is that Chinese president Xi Jinping said the Chinese economy would not suffer a hard landing and that home price data suggested a recovery in the Chinese property market.

Similarly, in the US, latest data showed home sales increased 4.7 percent to 5.55 million units last month. A growing housing market is seen boosting spending and domestic demand which could help cushion the US economy.

On the local front, value turnover was strong at P8.11 billion with gainers outnumbering losers, 119 to 46.