Index rises as market takes cue from Wall St rally

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine share prices were off to a good start yesterday, taking their cue from strong global stocks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 0.28 percent or 22.11 points to finish at 7,840.49 while the broader All Shares index followed the uptrend, picking up 0.19 percent or 8.47 points at 4,537.78.

“Participants took their cue from Wall Street’s rise in the hope more corporate participants would accelerate on expansion efforts prior to the Fed’s benchmark June interest rate hike, said Rens Cruz, analyst at F. Yap Securities.

US stocks ended Friday on a strong note, with the Dow Jones adding 168 points and Nasdaq raking in 34 points.

Asian shares also benefited from the Wall Street’s rise as markets across the region were mostly higher yesterday, led by a one-percent increase in Japan’s Nikkei.

“Following last week’s rather uncertain direction which nevertheless saw aggregate share prices eke out a 0.1 percent gain, the market starts off the new week still in character — rather tepid on slack activity,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

“At the close of the session, the PSEi managed to settle at 7840.49, testing resistance intra-day but failing to attract sufficient interest to push past the limits,” Calaycay added.

Most counters were on the green yesterday, with only the industrial and property firms declining.