PSE index climbs on positive data, vaccine hopes

LOCAL SHARES rose on Thursday on the back of positive investor sentiment, particularly from foreigners, due to improved manufacturing figures and positive trials for a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID -19) vaccine.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 154.37 points or 2.48% to close at 6,364.08 on Thursday. The broader all shares index likewise increased 66.23 points or 1.81% to end at 3,716.98.

“The market jumped by more than 100 points as foreigners turned out to be net buyers for the day. This may be due to a lot of economic reports from major economies being released, which point to better-than-expected performance,” Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren T. Pangan said in a text message.

After the resumption of most economic activity across the world in May, manufacturing data for the month of June started to improve, with the Philippines recording a Purchasing Managers’ Index of 49.7 last month from 40.1 in May. Global economies such as Germany, United States, France and China similarly reported improvements.

Foreign investors recorded their second day of net buying at the PSE on Thursday. Net buying stood at P59.32 million, albeit lower from the previous day’s P6.24 billion.

Uptrends were also recorded in global markets, both in Wall Street on Wednesday and in Asian stocks on Thursday.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices climbed 0.50% and 0.95% on Wednesday. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices increased 0.11% and 0.27% respectively, China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index rose 2.07%, and South Korea’s Kospi index grew 1.36% on Thursday.

For Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Claire T. Alviar, the optimism was likewise boosted by hopes of finding a vaccine to COVID-19 after reports of positive human trials by Pfizer, Inc. and BioNTech SE.

“Investors around the world are closely monitoring developments on the COVID-19 pandemic, and they await vaccine as this will strengthen the economic recovery. Without a vaccine, recovery is still uncertain as resurgence of cases bring fears to the investors,” she said in a text message.

The global COVID-19 tally reached 10.7 million as of Thursday with casualties reaching 516,255 individuals.

Most sectoral indices at the PSE ended the trading session in green territory. Financials rose 41.13 points or 3.32% to 1,276.99; services improved 34.02 points or 2.43% to 1,431.39; property climbed 71.77 points or 2.33% to 3,144.01; industrials gained 182.13 points or 2.33% to 7,996.29; and holding firms increased 125.74 points or 1.96% to 6,539.2.

The sole declining index was mining and oil, which shed 27.17 points or 0.52% to close at 5,192.20 at the end of Thursday’s trading.

Value turnover stood at P7.35 billion, down from the previous day’s P15.66 billion, with 761.37 million issues switching hands.

Advancers bested decliners, 132 against 61, while some 46 names ended unchanged. —