Philippine stocks surge most in 32 months, SET ends higher

Philippine stocks surge most in 32 months, SET ends higher

Philippine shares jumped 3.5% on Friday, the most in 32 months, while the Stock Exchange of Thailand index closed marginally higher.

The move was in line with Beijing's pledge to its trading partners, including the United States, that it would take measures to further increase imports, Bloomberg reported on Thursday without specifying the countries which would enjoy lower Chinese tariffs.

"This would trim the impact of a possible blowout of the US-China trade war on global trade. So, the positive outlook benefited emerging markets," said Fio De Jesus, an analyst with Manila-based RCBC Securities.

Sentiment was also upbeat as broader Asia extended gains on views that fresh US and Chinese tariffs on reciprocal imports may be less harsh than feared.

The Philippine Stock Exchange PSEi Index posted its sharpest daily gain since January 2016, after shedding 3.8% in the previous three sessions.

Financials and industrials led the rally with BDO Unibank and SM Investments Corp gaining 7.6% and 3.5%, respectively.

The SET index ended the day 4.01 points or 0.23% higher to close at 1,756.12, in turnover of 78 billion baht.

Singapore shares added 1.2%, extending gains into a third session and posting their highest close in three weeks. 

Index heavyweights DBS Group Holdings and United Overseas Bank jumped 3.2% and 1.4%, respectively.

Indonesian shares closed higher for a third session in a row and posted their highest close in over two weeks.

Financials led the gains with Bank Negara Indonesia rising 4.8%, while Bank Mandiri gained 2.6%.

An index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks climbed 0.5%.

Malaysia rose 0.4%.

Vietnam shares fell marginally, but did not see any significant moves following President Tran Dai Quang's death.

For the week, Singapore shares advanced 1.8%, Indonesia gained 0.4% and Thailand jumped 2%, while Philippine stocks declined 0.4%. 

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