PSEi tracks emerging markets upswing

THE LOCAL stock market firmed up further on Wednesday as upbeat China trade data and the rally in US and oil markets boosted risk-taking across the region.

Rising for the fifth straight session, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 34.44 points or 0.47 percent to close at 7,341.00, tracking the rally across emerging markets.

Local counters rose across the board but buying was mostly on large caps. Despite the PSEi’s gain, decliners (95) narrowly outnumbered advancers (94) at the broader market.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.7 billion.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said the local market was perked up by the rally of oil prices based on WTI, which reached 2016 highs after Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to freeze output ahead of the Doha meeting on Sunday. The final decision on this won’t depend on Iran.

“Oil price jumped by 4.5 percent overnight and crossed its 200-day moving average for the first time since July 2014,” Limlingan said.

“With energy stocks leading, US equities rose by nearly 1 percent overnight. European equities experienced a choppy session but ended in the green…Supported by oil prices, the dollar and commodity-linked currencies all recovered,” he said.

On Wednesday, a rebound in Chinese exports in March also enhanced investors’ appetite on emerging markets. Its exports grew by 11.5 percent in dollar terms, a turnaround from the 25-percent decline in February.

MPI (+3.39 percent) and Megaworld (+2.77 percent) led the PSEi higher. SM Prime, GTCAP, Banco de Oro, JG Summit, Emperador all rose by over 1 percent while SMIC, Globe and Meralco also firmed up.

Outside of the usual large caps comprising the PSEi, investors picked up NOW (+18.65 percent) and retailer SSI (+11.86 percent) which both sizzled in heavy volume.

On the other hand, Metrobank fell by 1.28 percent while URC, ALI, AC, DMCI, Jollibee and Semirara all declined.

Security Bank also fell by 0.83 percent.