PHILIPPINE SHARES rose on Thursday, lifted by last-minute bargain hunting after trading in the red for most of the session, as minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s December meeting affected market sentiment.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index rose by 0.22% or 14.85 points to end at 6,511.57 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index climbed by 0.19% or 7.44 points to 3,757.29.
“Last-minute bargain hunting brought the local market to a positive close this Thursday. For most of the day, however, the market was in the negative territory as the Fed’s concerns over the US inflation outlook as expressed in their latest minutes of the meeting weighed on sentiment,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.
“Philippine shares traded mostly in the red for most of the session before closing slightly higher to finish above the 6,500 mark again. US stocks closed mixed as Fed minutes highlighted heightened inflation risks, dampening hopes for significant rate cuts this year,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.
The reality of US President-elect Donald J. Trump’s election victory on a platform of aggressive tariffs and deportation of some immigrants landed hard at the Federal Reserve’s meeting last month, with US central bank officials raising new inflation concerns and staff suggesting the incoming administration’s plans may slow economic growth and raise unemployment, Reuters reported.
Amid an otherwise sanguine outlook of continually slowing inflation, participants at the Dec. 17-18 meeting “noted that recent higher-than-expected readings on inflation, and the effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy, suggested that the process could take longer than previously anticipated,” according to minutes of that session released on Wednesday.
After the release of the minutes, interest rate futures markets continued to reflect bets that the Fed would keep its policy rate steady in the current 4.25%-4.50% range at its next couple of meetings, with the first reduction coming in May at the earliest, and the odds of a second cut in 2025 only at 50%.
Back home, majority of sectoral indices posted gains on Thursday. Holding firms increased by 0.55% or 30.97 points to 5,577.22; property went up by 0.42% or 9.89 points to 2,351.54; services climbed by 0.36% or 7.66 points to 2,118.55; and industrials rose by 0.29% or 27.24 points to 9,239.64. Meanwhile, mining and oil declined by 0.76% or 59.65 points to 7,790.73 and financials retreated by 0.43% or 9.61 points to 2,191.10.
Value turnover decreased to P4.52 billion on Thursday with 1.53 billion shares exchanged from the P4.69 billion with 921.83 million issues traded on Wednesday.
Decliners outnumbered advancers, 108 versus 99, while 39 names were unchanged.
Net foreign selling declined to P98.099 million on Thursday from P501.53 million on Wednesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave with Reuters
