LOCAL stocks rallied sharply on Wednesday, riding on a global upswing fuelled by rising bets on global monetary stimuli in the aftermath of a stunning Brexit vote.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index racked up 131.84 points or 1.72 percent to close at 7,798.53, tracking upbeat global markets.
“Fear of unending uncertainty has begun to give way to some tentative hope,” Citigroup said in a research note, adding that investors who had been defensively positioned following Britain’s decision to exit the European Union were now looking to deploy capital.
Citi said it would encourage investors to gradually scale into exposure in emerging markets in anticipation of a “bubble up” rally.
In the case of the US Federal Reserve, whose potential movement is another source of global market volatility, Citi now expects the next rate hike to be pushed back to December.
At the local market, all counters advanced, led by the holding firm counter which surged by 1.93 percent. There were 128 advancers that overwhelmed 66 decliners while 48 stocks were unchanged. Value turnover amounted to P7.56 billion.
Gaming stock Bloomberry led the PSEi higher, rising by 7.93 percent on robust earnings forecast for the second quarter. Gaming peer Melco Crown, which is now part of the PSEi, likewise surged by 8.66 percent.
URC, SM Prime, PLDT, SMIC, Metrobank and Megaworld led the PSEi higher, all rising by over 2 percent.
BDO and First Gen gained over 1 percent while Globe, Jollibee, AC and JG Summit also contributed to the day’s gains.
The PSE also welcomed on Wednesday family-led death care service provider Golden Haven, the first company to debut on the market for the year. The company sizzled on its first day of trading, rising by 49.9 percent. (See related story).
Outside of the PSEi, another notable gainer was airline operator Cebu Air, which rose by 3.9 percent.
On the other hand, Security Bank slid by 4.47 percent following the shareholder dilution caused by the listing of new shares issued to new investor Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. ALI also went slightly lower.