Strong corporate earnings buoy market

MANILA, Philippines — Local stocks opened the week on a strong note as better-than-expected corporate earnings results helped lift investor sentiment.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Composite index (PSEi) rallied by 1.20 percent or 77.94 points to close at 6,598.38.

Similarly, the broader All Shares index rose by 21.83 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 3,510.09.

Most of the sectoral gauges were up except for services and mining and oil which ended in the red. Financials and property led the gainers.

Michael Ricafort of RCBC said stocks closed higher after global crude oil prices declined to new three week lows, erasing nearly all the increase since the surprise OPEC+ announcement in early April 2023 on oil production cuts.

This, in turn may lead to local fuel pump price rollbacks and help ease prices and inflationary pressures.

BDO rose by 3.33 percent to close at P139.50 per share, BPI rallied by 6.52 percent to finish at P109.50 and Razon-led ICTSI was up 1.59 percent to close at P217 per share.

On the other hand, Globe Telecom was down by 3.42 percent to end at P1,722 per share, while Ayala Land declined by 1.72 percent to close at P26.65. SM Investments Corp. was flat at P900 while PLDT dropped 2.76 percent to P1,234 per share.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were mixed yesterday ahead of a US economic update this week that is expected to show growth slowing.

US data on Thursday are expected to show first-quarter economic growth weakened after interest rate hikes to cool business activity and inflation. That might encourage the Federal Reserve to postpone or scale down more possible rate hikes at its May meeting.

Forecasters expect Thursday’s data to show US economic growth decelerated to two percent in the first three months of 2023 from 2.6 percent in last year’s final quarter.

Traders are watching whether the Fed and other central banks can rein in inflation that was near multi-decade highs without tipping the global economy into recession.

The Fed is expected to raise its key lending rate one more time at its May meeting and then take a break.