Stocks rose for a third day, sending the benchmark index to a new nine-month high, following overnight gains on Wall Street and positive first-quarter earnings reports of listed companies.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 13 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 7,524.84 Tuesday. The bellwether was now up 8.4 percent since the start of the year.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also climbed 23 points, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 4,474.99, on a value turnover of P10 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 99 to 96, while 51 issues were unchanged.
Nine of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by property developer Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., which advanced 5.2 percent to P5.28. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. gained 3.1 percent to P6.28, while Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. rose 1.8 percent to P88.60.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks traded higher Tuesday, as investors cheered Warren Buffett’s billion-dollar stake in Apple, while energy stocks tracked further gains on oil prices.
A pickup in commodity prices is giving a boost to global equities after weaker economic data and disappointing company earnings wiped out almost $2 trillion of value in the first two weeks of May.
Investors trying to get a better handle on the outlook for US monetary policy are looking ahead to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s April meeting due Wednesday, as other central banks struggle to fuel inflation. Prospects for an interest-rate increase helped strengthen the dollar over the last two weeks.
After last week’s sell-off, US investors provided a blistering lead Monday, pumped up by news of Buffett’s giant stake in the iPhone maker.
Apple, which has tumbled since it last month reported its first fall in sales of the popular smartphones, rallied 3.7 on the announcement.
Asian suppliers to the firm followed suit, with Tokyo-listed Alps Electric and Japan Display enjoying healthy gains. LG Display in Seoul put on one percent and Hon Hai in Taipei added 0.2 percent.
Stock markets in the region were also broadly higher.
Tokyo added 0.9 percent by the break, a day after rising 0.3 percent on the back of a report that the government was considering delaying next year’s planned sales tax hike.
Among other markets Hong Kong was down 0.1 percent, Sydney gained 0.5 percent and Singapore put on 0.8 percent. Shanghai dipped 0.2 percent. With AFP, Bloomberg
