By Arra B. Francia
Reporter
THE MAIN INDEX rallied to the 7,700 level on Tuesday, driven by the optimism from the truce between China and the United States alongside expectations of tamer inflation for the month of November.
The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) leaped by 2.27% or 171.02 points to close at 7,703.92 yesterday. The broader all-shares index likewise soared 1.73% or 78.26 points to 4,602.51.
“Philippine shares rose after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day ceasefire in the trade war that has weighed heavily on global stock markets for most of 2018,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.
Leaders of the world’s two largest economies agreed to delay the imposition of new tariffs to give way for negotiations in the next 90 days, as discussed during their meeting in Argentina last weekend.
Papa Securities Corp. Head of Online Trading Arbee B. Lu noted that the PSEi could rise further on Wednesday upon the Philippine Statistics Authority’s release of inflation data.
“With the 7,617 resistance out of the way, we are headed towards 7,881 next — that’s another +2.3% away. As November’s inflation data is slated for release [today], reaching said level won’t be a surprise if we notch a figure below 6.3% (consensus’ forecast),” Ms. Lu said in an e-mail.
A BusinessWorld poll of 14 economists yielded a 6.3% median estimate for November headline inflation, in line with market watchers’ expectations that the rise in prices has slowed down from October and September’s 6.7%.
Net foreign buying supported the PSEi’s uptick, as it recorded P1.08 billion in net purchases, a reversal of net outflows worth P123.07 million in the previous session.
The PSEi reflected the global equities rally on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average advancing 1.13% or 287.97 points to 25,826.43. The S&P 500 index surged 1.09% or 30.20 points to 2,790.37, while the Nasdaq Composite index closed 1.51% or 110.98 points to 7,441.51.
In contrast, most Asian markets snapped their rally as investors expressed doubts over the US-China trade war truce.
Back home, the mining and oil counter was the lone sub-index that stayed in negative territory, losing 0.26% or 22.38 points to 8,573.10. The rest went up, led by holding firms which jumped 2.99% or 222.44 points to 7,652.39. Financials climbed 2.2% or 39.06 points to 1,814.76; services rose 1.98% or 28.08 points to 1,440.18; property firmed up 1.87% or 69.40 points to 3,775.17; while industrials added 0.43% or 47.41 points to 10,896.
Advancers were more than double the decliners, 128 to 54, while 52 names were unchanged.
Turnover stood at P11.48 billion after some 1.26 billion issues switched hands, higher than the Monday’s P10.22-billion worth.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR