Market finishes week strong on Wall Street gains

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market closed out the week strong, moving back up to the 6,600 level behind positive cues from Wall Street.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index climbed by 1.5 percent or 98.53 points to cap off the week at 6,647.80.

Also ending the week on a high note was the broader All Shares index, which jumped by 1.01 percent or 36.1 points to 3,608.24.

“Philippine shares continued the rally to cross above 6,600 after shaky trading the week prior, as more reassuring economic data brought back more confidence in investors,” Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said.

“In addition, US stocks rebounded on Thursday, recovering from earlier losses in the week as the latest weekly jobless claims data eased investor concerns about the labor market’s strength and the broader US economy,” Limlingan said.

Philstocks Financial research and engagement officer Mikhail Plopenio said the country’s robust second quarter GDP data also continued to give sentiment a boost.

“Adding to the positives was the inflow of foreign funds as foreigners were net buyers amounting to P87.45 million,” he said.

Plopenio said yesterday’s net market value turnover of P5.26 billion was higher than the year-to-date average of P4.9 billion.

All sectors were in the green, led by mining and oil index with a 2.5-percent jump and holding firms, which rose by 2.2 percent.

Market breadth stayed positive as advancers pounded decliners, 104 to 82, while 53 issues were unchanged.

Monde Nissin registered the biggest gain among index members, rising by 3.9 percent, while Aboitiz Equity Ventures lost the most with 0.91 percent.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the market corrected higher by 0.6 percent or 42.50 points for the week after declining for two straight weeks.