Improved GDP data buoys bourse

THE stock market continues to stay in the 8,000 territory after the release of the latest economic growth data fueled positive investor sentiment on Thursday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index ( PSEi) climbed by 0.60 percent or 47.93 points to end at 8,073.81, while the wider All Shares rose by 0.38 percent or 18.41 points to end at 4,822.77.

“The improvement in [ the country’s] GDP ( gross domestic product) growth lifted the local market,” brokerage firm Philstocks Financial Inc. said in a market comment.

The Philippine economy grew by 6.2 percent in the third quarter, better than 6 percent a year ago and 5.5 percent a quarter ago, the National Economic and Development Authority and the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Thursday.

GDP growth should register at 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter to land within the government’s full- year target range of 6.0 to 7.0 percent.

Regina Capital Development head of sales Luis Limlingan echoed the view, saying “investors bought up toward closing after better- than- expected GDP and after seeing highs in recent days.”

“Markets parsed a report that an interim China-US trade deal could be delayed until December,” he added.

The US and China have been working on the so-called phase one deal — covering the farming and banking industries — that was originally planned to be signed this month.

On Wall Street, the S& P 500 rose by 0.07 percent, while the Nasdaq fell by 0.29 percent. The Dow Jones was flat.

Asian markets remained mixed, with Tokyo climbing by 0.11 percent, Seoul rising by 0.01 percent and Singapore adding 0.21 percent. Hong Kong declined by 0.32

percent, Jakarta slid by 1.49 percent, Thailand slipped by 0.01 percent and Vietnam lost 0.08 percent. Shanghai ended flat.

In Manila, all sectors were up, except for mining and oil and industrial which dropped by 0.19 percent and 0.93 percent, respectively.

Volume turnover stood at 474.53 million shares, valued at P5.12 billion.

Advancers led decliners, 93- 81, while 61 issues did not changed hands.