Market cheers Duterte apology to MVP, Zobels

The local stock barometer outperformed regional markets on Tuesday as President Duterte’s peace offering to the Ayala and Metro Pacific groups eased concerns over regulatory risk that had bludgeoned local equities even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Led by the double-digit rally of conglomerates Ayala Corp. (AC) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) racked up 99.58 points, or 1.79 percent, to close at 5,671.67.

The day’s most actively traded company was AC, which gained 14.73 percent, while MPIC rallied by 13.55 percent.“We saw surprising foreign inflows today with P86.52 million worth of net buying. It is not much but it ends more than 20 days of consecutive net selling,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.

“Positive comments from President Duterte in his speech [the other] night toward several business leaders improved the general sentiment and increased optimism, pushing the PSEi higher today … Investors cheered the renewed cooperation between government and the private sector, which overshadowed concerns of geopolitical tensions abroad,” he said.

Mangun said this may drive the PSEi higher in the following days, testing resistance levels at 5,850 and then at 6,000.Outside the PSEi, Manila Water was one notable gainer, surging by 12.05 percent.

On Monday night, Mr. Duterte apologized to the Zobel brothers and MPIC chair Manuel V. Pangilinan for “hurtful” words earlier issued against these tycoons, whom he had accused of being beneficiaries of “onerous” contracts with the government. The President also thanked them for helping the country during this state of national public health emergency.

The holding counter racked up 3.29 percent, driven by the gains of AC and MPIC, while the industrial counter added 2.11 percent.

The property counter firmed up by 1.36 percent, while the financial and mining/oil counters both added less than 1 percent. INQ