Index gains for 3rd day as Wall Street recovers

Share prices rose for a third straight day yesterday, carrying over the momentum generated by the slew of positive corporate earnings results as well as the rebound on Wall Street overnight.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 6,655.37, up by 32.92 points or 0.50 percent, while the broader All Shares index rose to 3,564.42, up by 15.24 points or 0.43 percent.

Total value turnover reached P6.5 billion. Market breadth was positive, 84 to 73, while 52 issues were unchanged.

Around Asia, equities rose on prospects for a steady economic recovery in China, and after Wall Street reversed losses overnight following remarks by the Atlanta Federal Reserve chief that signaled a measured approach raising US interest rates.

Investors were waiting to see what economic targets are set by China’s parliament, and who it elects to top economic posts. The parliament’s annual meeting opens on Sunday.

Investors’ appetite for holding riskier assets has improved lately on signs that the world’s secondbiggest economy is making a steady rebound after the government ditched stringent COVID controls in December.

“Everyone is eyeing China’s growth target for 2023 and wondered whether it would be five percent, 5.5 percent or even as high as six percent. The figure would represent the size of the government’s policy stimulus. That’s what the market and investors care about the most,” said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.

“A higher growth target can nudge China’s growth back to its potential path,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

Global markets have been buffeted by a raft of strong US data over recent weeks, including US jobless claims overnight, that suggested the Fed would need to keep rates higher for longer.

But investors breathed a sigh of relief after Atlanta Federal Reserve president Raphael Bostic said he favored “slow and steady” quarterpoint US rate increases to limit risk to the economy.

US stocks rose on Thursday, reversing earlier losses, as Treasury yields pulled back from earlier highs, following the rates comments from Bostic.