Market snaps 3-day decline

MANILA, Philippines —  The local stock market snapped its three-day losing skid following positive cues from Wall Street.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index inched up by 0.1 percent or 6.2 points to finish yesterday’s session at 6,166.05.

The broader All Shares index also ended in the win column, increasing by 0.53 percent or 19.53 points to settle at 3,676.71.

Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said that last minute bargain hunting brought the local market higher yesterday.

“Rising hopes that the BSP will ease their policy in their April meeting helped in lifting sentiment. Adding to the rise were the positive cues from Wall Street,” he said.

Net value turnover improved to P4.52 billion from the previous day’s P4.35 billion, but was still lower than the year-to-date average of P5.36 billion, according to Tantiangco.

Counters were mixed, with services leading the charge with a 1.70-percent increase, while property suffered the biggest drop at 2.13 percent.

Decliners edged out advancers, 111 to 92, while 46 issues were unchanged.

BDO Unibank was the session’s most actively traded company, plunging by 1.86 percent to P153.10 per share, followed by ICTSI with a 2.97-percent gain to P374.

Among index members, Puregold registered the largest gain at 6.46 percent, while Bloomberry lost the most with a 6.69-percent drop.

Lingering hopes that Donald Trump’s planned tariff blitz next week will not be as painful as feared lifted most Asian markets yesterday, though uncertainty about the president’s policies and the US economy tempered optimism.

With the White House’s “Liberation Day” on April 2 approaching, investors have been bracing for a wave of sweeping levies on imports amid warnings of crippled global trade, recession and a fresh spike in inflation.