Bernanke stimulus promise boosts stocks

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine equities rallied yesterday following an assurance from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that the Federal Reserve will continue its stimulus program to improve the number of employed Americans.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index surged 2.60 percent or 166.85 points to settle at 6,574.21, ending close to its intraday high of 6,593.58.

Juanis Barredo, chief technical analyst at COL Financial Group Inc., said Wall St.’s rally boosted local share prices.

“US Fed said they will watch the (employment) numbers first and that’s what the market likes so you got a rally,” Barredo said, adding that this assured investors that the $85-billion monthly bond buyback will continue.

On Thursday, US stocks posted new record highs after US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the easy money policy will continue for some time to cut unemployment rate.

Blue chip Dow Jones industrial average picked up 1.11 percent or 169.26 points to 15,460.92 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 1.36 percent or 22.4 points to 1,675.02.

Asian stocks were mixed, still dragged by weakness in China’s economy. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at 14,506.25 (+0.23 percent) while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended at 21.386.01 (-0.24 percent).

All counters ended in positive territory, led by holding firms that spiked 3.37 percent or 196.35 points to 6,016.90.

Turnover value rose to P7.80 billion from P7.15 billion on Thursday. Advancers outpaced decliners, 111 to 50, while 39 stocks did not change.