Philippine Market Recap July 18, 2018
Market Recap
Philippine shares climbed higher as a sweep of positive news from Wall Street and beyond boosted confidence in the U.S. economy.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) gained 69.69 points or 0.94% to close at 7,451.37. Meanwhile, the broader All Shares index climbed 27.13 points or 0.61% to 4,492.51 at the closing bell.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stuck with an upbeat assessment on the US economy while downplaying the impact of global trade risks on the outlook for rate rises.
Delivering his twice-a-year report on monetary policy to Congress, Powell said he expects the job market to remain robust and inflation to hover around the Fed's 2% target for the next few years.
The outlook is consistent with two further quarter point rate increases this year, likely in September and December.
The main risk is that individuals, business, and financial markets have underestimated the desire of Trump to re-orient trade flows and that further steps to implement tariffs will lead to a reduction in confidence, a slowdown in hiring, and a correction in equity markets.
While earnings and the highly-watched testimony to Senate by Fed chair Powell played a part, movements remained largely muted.
More than 1.239-bil shares, valued at P4.253-bil, changing hands. Advancers outweighed decliners, 108 to 76, with 52 issues unchanged.
Gainers: MEG (+4.01%), ALI (+2.94%), AC (+2.73%), MPI (+1.77%), AGI (+1.72%)
Laggards: LTG (-1.69%), ICT (-0.62%), MBT (-0.36%), MER (-0.28%), EMP (-0.27%)
