Stocks rebound on easing Middle East tensions

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market bounced back strongly amid ceasefire hopes after Iran stopped its military strikes against Israel.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index climbed by 1.13 percent or 66.3 points to close the session at 5,945.71.

The broader All Shares index also rose by 0.7 percent or 22.97 points, settling at 3,325.28.

“The local market rose as Iran stopped its military strikes against Israel causing global oil prices to pull back,” Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said.

AB Capital Securities, for its part, said the index effectively reversed Monday’s decline as regional markets rebounded on lower oil prices and a temporary pause in Iran-Israel strikes.

Sectors were mixed, with holding firms leading the charge with a 2.09-percent jump, while mining and oil lost the most with a 1.51-percent drop.

Market breadth was negative as decliners edged out advancers, 96 to 82, while 64 issues were unchanged.

Trading was robust, with total value turnover improving to P9.33 billion from the previous day’s P6.45 billion.

ICTSI was the session’s most actively traded stock, climbing by 1.40 percent to P870 per share, followed by conglomerates GT Capital and SM Investments which rose by 0.93 percent and five percent, respectively, to P475.40 and P609.

Asian stocks rallied yesterday from the previous day’s rout as easing Middle East tensions also provided support and pushed oil prices down.

Investors also took heart from news that Iran and Israel said on Monday they had halted hostilities after exchanging strikes that threatened to reignite the Middle East war.

News that the US economy had created more than double the number of jobs than expected in May indicated it remained in rude health but put pressure on the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy as it also battled surging inflation.–  AFP