Index surges after US Fed keeps stimulus

MANILA, Philippines - Local share prices soared yesterday after the US Federal Reserve decided to hold off a reduction in its economic stimulus.

The Philippine Stock Exchange surged 177.74 points or 2.81 percent to 6,511.70. It gained by as much as four percent to 6,587.48 in early trade.

“Investors went aggressively back to equities as the clouds of uncertainty were blown away,” said Jun Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp.

All counters jumped by at least 1.5 percent each, led by the 4.65 percent increase in the property sub-index.

There were four advancers for every decliner, while 35 issues were unchanged. Value turnover surged to P15.97 billion as 1.78 billion changed hands.

Actively traded stocks were Alliance Global, BDO, Metrobank, SM Investments and Ayala Land. Top gainers were Vivant, Panasonic and United Paragon, while the biggest losers were iRipple, A Brown and Millennium Global.

In a surprise move at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting, the US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept its monthly asset purchases intact at $85 billion, saying it needs more evidence that economic improvement will be sustained before it adjusts its stimulus.

However, tapering might still begin this year should economic data come in line with its basic outlook, Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke said.