Trading resumes

Support for local equities will likely persist today, as Asian stocks reacted positively to signals that a United States interest rate increase will push through next month, and as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit ended without any major incident.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said bargain hunting would also likely continue Friday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index on Tuesday rose 0.78 percent, or 52.46 points, to 6,825.38 as investors snapped up shares after a nine-day losing streak. Trading at the stock market resumes today after a two-day break.

“I think the market has bottomed out,” Limlingan said. “I don’t expect any huge drops.”

Markets were also lower earlier in the week in reaction to the brutal terrorist attacks on Paris, France, over the weekend. Limlingan said there was some carry-over worry over security risks for the Apec activities this week.

Despite gains on Tuesday, trading volume was relatively low as most investors decided to stay on the sidelines. Data from the PSE showed that a total of 601.9 million shares valued at P6.11 billion changed hands on Nov. 17. Miguel Camus