Global recovery pulls up local stocks

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered during yesterday’s trading, buoyed by US and Asian regional markets.

The market gauge gained 82.23 points, or 0.96 percent, to finish at 8,570.14 while the broader All Shares index gained 27.31 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 5,053.21.

Most of the sectoral indexes likewise closed in positive territory except for the industrial index, which lost 72.99 points or 0.63 percent.

Total value turnover also improved to P7.66 billion. However, market breadth remained negative, 110 to 96 while 48 issues were left unchanged.

Traders said the market tracked developments abroad as Asian stocks pulled further away from two-month lows, which in turn were lifted by Wall Street’s extended rebound from last week’s steep fall.

For instance, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.1 percent after sliding to its lowest level since Dec. 11 on Friday last week.

Similarly, the Shanghai composite index was up one percent, also because of global gains.

Commenting on yesterday’s performance, Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said: “Philippine markets saw a bit of reprieve today from the selling pressure experienced this month but this was on the back of weaker trading volumes as the Chinese New Year holiday gets underway. In line with this, US markets rose for the second straight session Monday, as investors began re-entering the market, bargain-hunting with signs of stability showing after the worst weeks for the US bourse in the last two years,” he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 410.37 points to 24,601.27, with 28 of the 30 stock-members closing in the green.