Stocks surge on Europe news
THE LOCAL stock barometer rallied to a record high 7,548.93 yesterday on the back of the global euphoria arising from the European Central Bank’s rollout of a $1.16-trillion monetary stimulus program.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped by 132.62 points or 1.79 percent to close at 7,548.93, also a record intra-day peak.
The ECB announced it was embarking on its own quantitative easing or bond-buying program just when the US Federal Reserve had tapered its own. The ECB committed to release more than a trillion euros to perk up the euro zone, boosting global stock and bond markets while dragging the euro lower.
The ECB plans to buy a total of
60 billion a month in assets, including government bonds, debt securities issued by European institutions and private-sector bonds through September 2016.
John Lonski, chief economist at Moody’s Capital Markets Research Inc., said the ECB’s bond-buying program should help stabilize financial markets both in the euro zone and elsewhere.
