Index hits new high anew on ECB growth forecast

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange index cheered yesterday the European Central Bank’s growth forecast upgrade, rising to its 19th all-time high close for the year.

The PSEi surged 0.54 percent or 42.29 points to finish at 7,861.33 and shatter its previous record high of 7,847.83.

Analysts agreed that yesterday’s push was fueled by the ECB’s increased growth forecast of 1.5 percent this year from one percent.

The upgrade made positive impact to other bourses abroad, with Japan’s Nikkei kicking to a 15-year high after picking up 1.2 percent.

In Wall Street, all three indexes ended in the green, led by the Nasdaq which rose 0.32 percent.

Friday’s stock market performance showed a positive boost to investors after a breather on Thursday, analysts said.

“Mixed reactions were seen with the latest uptick in consumer prices for February (2.5 percent from 2.4 percent), although buyers seized on this window to reposition in select shares.  Some checked for progression in large-caps beaten Thursday, especially on regulation matters,” said Jason Escartin, investment analyst at F. Yap Securities Inc.

Most counters felt the positive atmosphere yesterday except for the mining and oil companies and services firms which dropped 0.13 percent and 0.003 percent, respectively.

Market breadth was positive as gainers outpaced decliners, 94 to 85, while 50 stocks were unchanged.

Value turnover rose to P9.27 billion from the previous day’s P9.09 billion.