PSEi, markets beat the blues as Trump dons Santa hat

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered lost ground on Wednesday after the United States said it would delay tariffs on certain Chinese goods.

Ending a four-day losing streak, the PSEi rose 0.9 percent, or 70.20 points, to 7,858.65 yesterday while the broader all-shares index was up 0.56 percent, or 26.70 points, to 4,768.92.

Most subsectors rose by the sessions’s close while the holding firms subindex was the sole loser with a decline of 0.16 percent. Gainers here were led by industrial, up 2.12 percent, followed by property, up 1.99 percent, and services, up 1.42 percent.

A total of 1.17 billion shares valued at P6.56 billion changed hands yesterday. There were 112 gainers against 82 decliners while 40 companies closed unchanged.

According to data from the PSE, Ayala Land Inc. was the most actively traded as it gained 3.49 percent to P48.90 per share.

It was followed by SM Prime Holdings, up 2.31 percent to P35.50; Universal Robina Corp., up 3.99 percent to P169.50; SM Investments Corp., up 1.72 percent to P1,004; and Jollibee Foods Corp., up 7.73 percent to P234.20 per share.

Other actively traded stocks were Megaworld Corp., down 2.22 percent to P5.28; Ayala Corp., down 0.53 percent to P935; Metropolitan Bank & Trust, down 0.14 percent to P70.30; BDO Unibank, up 2.98 percent to P148.50; and International Container Terminal Services, up 6.25 percent to P127.50 per share.

US President Donald Trump said he was putting off tariffs on certain Chinese-made goods such as cell phones, laptops and video game consoles to avoid hitting shoppers ahead of the Christmas season. The move sparked rallies in several markets waiting for developments in the US-China trade war.

The markets had been in a spin cycle since Trump announced on Aug. 1 that he would impose 10-percent tariffs on about $300 billion in Chinese imports, which would be on top of 25-percent tariffs already in place on $250 billion in imports. The threat dashed hopes that a resolution might come soon in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies, and investors had grown increasingly concerned that it might drag on through the 2020 US election. —WITH A REPORT FROM AP