PSEi soars 106 pts on strong regulation markets

MANILA, Philippines - The stock market changed its course yesterday, and for the first time this week finished in positive territory as it tracked regional markets which recovered ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged 106.37 points, or 1.58 percent, to end at 6,807.72 points, while the broader All Shares index gained 45.90 points or 1.19 percent to finish at 3,917.57.

The biggest gainers among the indexes were the industrial index which finished by 100.45 points or 0.94 percent to end at 10,713.25; and the holding firms index which gained 81.49 points or 1.29 percent to end at 6,388.70.

Value turnover reached P5.8 billion. Advancers edged out decliners 94 to 61 while 39 stocks were left unchanged.

Analysts said the local market tracked regional markets’ recovery. The Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.6 percent to close at 19,049.90 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched up by two percent to 21,701.21. Similarly, South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.8 percent to 1,969.40.

The US Fed is widely expected to raise rates from record low levels in a move regarded by analysts as widely telegraphed.

Fed chairman Janet Yellen and other officials at the US central bank have consistently signaled in advance that they are likely to raise rates for the first time in nearly a decade on the back of a growing US economy.