PSEi climbs higher as US-China trade talks progress

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
SHARES firmed up on Friday as updates on the United States and China’s trade negotiations helped offset fears of a slowdown in world economic growth.
The bellweather Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 0.39% or 30.83 points to close at 7,962.13. The broader all shares index likewise climbed 0.55% or 26.83 points to 4,883.63.
“Stocks in the Philippines managed to climb higher… The fears about a worldwide slowdown were somewhat muted by reports that U.S. and Chinese negotiators were beginning to outline a deal to end a long-running trade spat,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.
US and Chinese officials have resumed talks on Thursday in hopes of arriving at a concrete deal to end their trade war, about a week before their truce ends on March 1.
Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez noted that the PSEi was trading in the red for most of the day, before gaining momentum at the market’s close.
“The index traded weakly for most of the day on account of US markets ending in the red last night, before only being bought up at the close to end 30.83 points higher at 7,962.13,” Mr. Perez said in an email.
“We might not be out of the woods yet despite the PSEi ending in the green given that it was only bought up at the close. Watch out if US markets continue to weaken tonight given how they declined last night,” Mr. Perez added.
Four sectoral indices ended in positive territory, led by property which jumped 1.12% or 44.86 points to 4,045.68. Holding firms went up 0.6% or 48.15 points to 8,020.92; industrial increased 0.47% or 54.25 points to 11,678.17, while services added 0.26% or 4.01 points to 1,578.39.
In contrast, financials dropped 0.99% or 17.49 points to 1,754.68, while mining and oil tumbled 0.19% or 16.27 points to 8,609.85.
Some 1.51 billion issues switched hands, valued at P8.01 billion, improving from the previous session’s P7-billion turnover.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 97 to 89, while 54 names were unchanged.
Foreign investors remained net buyers for the third straight session, although much lower at P17.62 million, compared to Thursday’s figure of P522.09 million.
The local index bucked the weakness seen in markets abroad. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.4% or 103.81 points to 25,850.63. The S&P 500 index fell 0.35% or 9.82 points to 2,774.88, while the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.39% or 29.36 points to 7,459.71.
Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 ending 0.18% lower or 38.72 points to 21,425.51. The Hang Seng index gained 0.36% or 103.63 points to 28,733.55, while the Shanghai Composite soared 1.91% or 52.42 points to 2,804.23.