Wall St gains buoy Philippine stocks

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine stocks recovered slightly yesterday after two consecutive days of losses as investors took their cue from Wall St.’s rally.

Across the region, markets mostly stayed afloat, buoyed by Wall St.’s overnight rally.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched by 3.8 points, or 0.05 percent, to settle at 7,482.83, while the broader All Shares also advanced 11.14 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 4,295.19.

Alexander Adrian O. Tiu, analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc. said bargain hunting following two days of losses buoyed the market.

 “The market was up due to bargain hunting following the excessive rate of decline which started early in the week,” said Tiu.

Value turnover was significant at P8.53 billion, as 3.76 billion shares changed hands.

Advancers outweighed decliners 92 to 75, while 48 issues were unchanged.

US stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday, breaking a five-day losing streak as attention shifted from trouble in Chinese equities to US corporate earnings and to speculation the first Federal Reserve interest rate hike may not come until December.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 chalked up gains of more than one percent, while the Nasdaq Composite lagged slightly.

After the S&P sank over the past week toward the low end of a range it has traded in since February, some investors wagered the market was primed for a technical bounce-back.