China stimulus boosts PSEi

Most local stocks firmed up on Monday, halting a three-day slump, as regional markets cheered China’s fresh monetary stimulus and the latest US jobs data.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index added 14.69 points or 0.19 percent to close at 7,777.90 amid mixed market sentiment.

Across the region, markets were mostly higher as China slashed its key interest rate for the third time in six months in a bid to pump-prime the economy. Investors also took their cue from Wall Street, following the release of the latest US jobs data, which showed an increase in non-farm payrolls and a drop in jobless rate dropped to a near seven-year low of 5.4 percent last month.

The financial, services and property counters ended higher while the industrial, holding firm and mining/oil counters declined.

Total value turnover amounted to P5.73 billion. Despite the modest gain eked out by the main index, market breadth was negative. There were 96 decliners which outnumbered 85 advancers while 43 stocks were unchanged. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla