Shares climb on Trump’s trade war comments

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
SHARES CLOSED on a positive note on Wednesday despite trading in the red for most of the day, as investors welcomed US President Donald J. Trump’s positive comments on reaching a trade deal with China.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) firmed up 0.49% or 37.16 points to 7,488.24. The broader all-shares index also gained 0.35% or 15.82 points to 4,494.55.
“Philippine shares settled for some modest gains, mirroring the volatile swings from overnight markets and today’s trading in Asia… Stocks initially rose more than one percent across-the-board amid signs that US-China trade relations could be improving,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.
Mr. Trump tweeted on Tuesday night about “very productive conversations going on with China,” telling the public to stay tuned to “some important announcements.”
With this, markets abroad were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.22% or 53.02 point to 24,370.24, while the S&P 500 index dipped 0.04% or 0.94 point to 2,636.78. The Nasdaq Composite index, meanwhile, rose 0.16% or 11.31 points to 7,031.83.
Summit Securities, Inc. President Harry G. Liu, however, noted that it is still unclear how the US-China trade war will play out.
“Right now it’s not yet very clear, China and (the) US have not settled their grievances. There’s still a little bit of doubt how it’s going to be settled. I feel that’s the reason why the market is going through a sideways behavior waiting for more developments coming from this trade war,” Mr. Liu said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Sectoral indices were split between advancers and losers. Leading the ascent was the holding firms counter, which jumped 1.77% or 129.24 points to 7,405.04. Mining and oil gained 0.5% or 42 points to 8,353.16, while industrials added 0.12% or 13.68 points to 10,839.79.
In contrast, financials shed 0.56% or 10.07 points to 1,765.59. Services dropped 0.25% or 3.58 points to 1,397.49, while property slipped 0.13% or 5.06 points to 3,662.56.
Some 990.03 million issues valued at P11.90 billion switched hands, rising from the previous session’s turnover of P4.72 billion.
Advancers trumped decliners, 98 to 85, while 44 names were unchanged. Net foreign selling ballooned to P984.70 million, from Tuesday’s net sales of P326.16 million.
“We’ve so far managed to stay above our most immediate trend line support at 7,330. We’re recommending a buy on dips strategy for the remainder of this December as we look forward to more bold positioning from local and foreign funds next year,” Papa Securities Corp. Head of Online Trading Arbee B. Lu said in an e-mail.