Budget approval lifts stock market
Approval of the delayed 2019 national government budget lifted the stock market on Tuesday with investors anticipating a second-half economic uptick.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index finished at 7,826.46, up 0.49 percent or 38.48 points from the previous day. The wider All Shares added 0.23 percent or 10.99 to close at 4,828.14.
Sectoral results were mixed, with the financial, industrial and services indices closing in the red.
Total share volume stood at 1.45 billion valued at P7.14 billion.
Decliners led advancers, 107-85, while 42 issues remained unchanged.
“[Investors took] the passing of the 2019 budget … as a positive sign that the economy might recover in the second half of 2019,” Philstocks Financial Inc. Research Associate Piper Chaucer Tan said.
President Rorigo Duterte on Monday approved the P3.757-trillion budget, vetoing P95.3-billion worth of programs and projects and finally ending a Senate-House of Representative tiff over allegedly unauthorized insertions.
The budget impasse, along with an ongoing El Niño and a global economic slowdown, has prompted downward revisions to 2019 Philippine growth forecasts.
Tan also said that declines over the past few days had led to an undervalued market, setting the stage for a technical bounce.
P2P Trade Online Sales Associate Gabriel Jose Perez, meanwhile, said a slowdown was likely today, April 15, as traders wind up their activities for the Holy Week break.
“Trading could likely be quiet … especially with the upcoming long weekend,” he said.
The PSEi rose along with other Asian markets where investors were said to have brushed off a weak lead
from Wall Street while looking ahead for the release of Chinese growth data.
With few catalysts to drive business, regional equities at first struggled for traction but picked up as the day wore on — resuming an uptrend that has characterized the year.
Focus turns now to China’s growth figures, which come after a number of upbeat readings on the world’s number two economy — including factory activity, inflation, new loans and trade — that have given some cause for optimism.
High-level talks between China and the United States aimed at ending their long-running trade war are also being closely followed, with most observers optimistic they would reach a deal.
Traders are also keeping tabs on trade talks between Japan and the United States in Washington.
Hong Kong rose 1.1 percent, while Shanghai ended more than two percent higher — boosted by a rise in property prices — and Tokyo was up 0.2 percent.
Sydney gained 0.4 percent, Singapore added 0.2 percent, Seoul rose 0.3 percent and Taipei jumped 0.6 percent.
Wellington, Mumbai and Jakarta were also well up.
Traders in New York provided a weak lead after Wall Street majors Goldman Sachs and Citigroup disappointed, offsetting a healthy report from peer JP Morgan last week and causing some concern as earnings season kicks into gear.
In early trade London’s FTSE index rose 0.2 percent, Paris gained 0.3 percent and Frankfurt 0.5 percent.
With a reports from AFP
The post Budget approval lifts stock market appeared first on The Manila Times Online.