SHARES surged on Thursday after the government’s pandemic task force eased mobility restrictions in the National Capital Region (NCR) amid a decline in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed 114.19 points or 1.61% to close at 7,183.11 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index went up by 40.69 points or 0.92% to 4,443.95.

This is the PSEi’s highest close since Jan. 21, 2021, when the 30-member index finished at 7,140.29.

“Market went on uptrend today after IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) decided to ease restrictions by lowering to Alert Level 3 from Level 4 starting Oct. 16 to end this month as infection rates simmer down with NCR to start jabs on [the] general population including minors,” Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan said in a text message on Thursday.

“Also, most Asian markets were up on rebound after the US market rebounded last night,” he added.

“Investors bought back into the Philippines market as NCR eased its restriction to Alert Level 3, thus reopening the economy and stimulating more business activity,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

The government’s pandemic task force eased quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila, allowing movie theaters and amusement parks to open, until the end of the month.

“Overseas, investors digested the possibility of the central bank starting the tapering process by mid-November or mid-December, based on the minutes from FOMC’s (Federal Open Market Committee) September meeting,” Mr. Limlingan added.

The Federal Reserve signaled on Wednesday it could start reducing its crisis-era support for the US economy by the middle of next month, with a growing number of its policy makers worried that high inflation could persist longer than previously thought, Reuters reported.

All sectoral indices closed in the green on Thursday. Holding firms gained 158.21 points or 2.28% to 7,083.25; property went up by 65.03 points or 1.99% to 3,321.18; industrials climbed 187.88 points or 1.80% to finish at 10,604.52; services rose 11.44 points or 0.61% to 1,882.84; financials inched up by 5.61 points or 0.36% to 1,563.28; and mining and oil increased by 31.94 points or 0.30% to 10,509.80.

Value turnover decreased to P10.28 billion with 1.01 billion shares switching hands on Thursday, down from the P11.93 billion with 1.33 issues traded on Wednesday.

Advancers beat decliners, 111 versus 86, as 45 names closed unchanged.

Foreigners turned buyers anew, logging P191.09 million in net purchases on Thursday from the P219.72 million in net outflows seen the previous day. — K.C.G. Valmonte with Reuters

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