PHILIPPINE shares rose sharply following the midterm polls, with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index up 1.68 percent and the All Shares index also up 1.13 percent at the end of Tuesday’s trading.
All sectoral indices were up, except for the Mining and Oil Index which was down 1.34 percent. The Services sector rose highest, climbing 2.48 percent; followed by Holding Firms which was up 1.96 percent.
Among bluechips, ICTSI posted the highest gains, rising 5.71 percent. Ayala Corp also gained 3.4 percent, while three of the country’s biggest banks also made substantial gains.
The Philippine peso meanwhile weakened to P55.795 to the US dollar at the close of Tuesday’s trading. This was weaker than its P55.51 close on Friday last week.
Asian stocks up as US-China pause tariff war
Most stocks extended gains Tuesday as investors basked in the glow of the China-US tariff suspension that has fuelled hopes the world’s two economic superpowers will step back from a punishing trade war.
Equity markets across the world rallied with oil and the dollar Monday after the two sides said they would slash most of their eye-watering tit-for-tat levies and hold talks to end a standoff that has stoked recession fears.
The news raised hopes that deals can be done with Washington to cut or even remove some of the tolls unveiled by Donald Trump on his “Liberation Day” on April 2 that sent shivers through trading floors and raised concerns about the global trading system.
Top-level negotiators said after two days of talks in Geneva at the weekend that the United States would reduce its 145 percent duties on China to 30 percent for 90 days, while Beijing would cut its retaliatory measures to 10 percent from 125 percent.
The US president described the move as a “total reset” and said talks with counterpart Xi Jinping could soon follow, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC he expected officials would meet again in the coming weeks to reach “a more fulsome agreement”.
After piling higher on the news Monday, most of Asia’s markets started Tuesday on the front foot. Tokyo was up more than one percent, while Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei, Singapore, Seoul, Wellington, Bangkok and Manila were also well up.
London, Paris and Frankfurt edged up in early trade. However, Hong Kong dropped nearly two percent, having surged three percent the day before. Mumbai also slipped.
The dollar also pulled back from the previous day’s rally, though oil reversed early losses to extend Monday’s advance. (ABS-CBN News/Agence France-Presse)
