PHL stocks rise on Wall St. gains, China reopening

STOCKS continued to improve on Monday amid Wall Street’s rebound amid easing economic concerns and with China loosening mobility restrictions.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed by 96.18 points or 1.43% to close at 6,822.32 on Monday, while the broader all shares index went up by 36.94 points or 1.02% to 3,633.07.

“Local shares opened the week on an upbeat note as share prices rallied for the fourth straight day. The local stock market gained, taking its cue from the sustained rally on Wall Street,” Papa Securities Corp. Equities Strategist Manny P. Cruz said in a Viber message.

“The local bourse rose this Monday as global economic concerns ease. The market took cues from Wall Street’s positive performance last Friday backed by the growth slowdown of the US’ core personal consumption expenditures price index from March’s 5.2% to April’s 4.9%,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

Although Wall Street will be shut for Memorial Day, US futures were trading. S&P 500 e-minis rose 0.9%, having rallied 6.6% last week in their best run so far this year, while Nasdaq e-minis added another 1.3%, Reuters reported.

With the Dow Jones snapping out of its longest weekly losing streak in nearly a century and scoring its best week since 2020 on Friday, the narrative across stock markets has swiftly moved from meltdown fears to hopes of a rebound.

Mr. Tantiangco added that investors also cheered the easing of restrictions in China.

“Positive sentiment was [impacted] by major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai starting to relax pandemic measures as the local case count declined significantly. Major shopping centers in Beijing have announced that they had reopened already last weekend,” Papa Securities’ Mr. Cruz said.

Authorities in China’s commercial hub of Shanghai will cancel many conditions for businesses to resume work from Wednesday, easing a city-wide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown, Reuters reported.

At home, the majority of the sectoral indices ended in the green on Monday except for services, which declined by 0.91 point or 0.04% to 1,906.21.

Meanwhile, holding firms advanced by 154.26 points or 2.50% to 6,306.99; mining and oil gained 243.49 points or 2.08% to 11,897.99; financials rose by 31.40 points or 1.95% to 1,638.33; property added 32.91 points or 1.07% to end at 3,093.52; and industrials closed higher by 17.17 points or 0.18% to 9,452.46.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 114 against 76, while 51 names ended unchanged.

Value turnover increased to P7 billion with 890.17 million shares changing hands from the P5.96 billion with 917.39 million issues seen on Friday.

Net foreign buying dropped to P69.01 million on Monday from the P160.15 million seen the previous trading day. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson with Reuters