PSEi ends higher as Wall St rallies

The stock market finished strong yesterday, tracking Wall Street’s rally.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 124.53 points, or 2.28 percent, to end at 5,574.98.

Likewise, the broader All Shares index rose 52.03 points, or 1.55 percent to settle at 3,394.75.

Most indexes were up except for the mining and oil gauge.

Traders said market investors welcomed government’s plan to ease restrictions on businesses and transition to a new normal after the lockdown is lifted on May 15.

Chris Mangun of AAA Securities said selling was minimal, which signaled buyers to come in, thus taking prices higher. The main index moved higher all throughout the trading session, ending at its high for the day.

“Trading volumes remain below average as investors analyze the recent easing of restrictions on businesses. First quarter earnings reports have also begun to come in which will give a clearer outlook on the state of our economy. Retail traders were active today triggering volatility for several speculative issues,” he said.

However, trading volumes were below average with turnover value at P4.61 billion excluding block sales and foreign outflows continued with P471.7 million worth of net-selling.

Moving forward, he said the PSEi may continue higher to test resistance at 5,800 in the coming days.

Elsewhere, most Asian stock markets moved higher as well despite the decline in crude oil prices after the largest US oil exchange-traded fund started selling all its front-month crude contracts, in favor of longer-term contracts. The move is set to avoid a situation like last month, when US crude oil futures prices went negative on the day that the contract was set to expire.