MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was the best performer in the region on Monday, as investor jitters over a Syria strike and a possible cut in the US Federal Reserve's economic stimulus eased.
The PSEi settled at 6,302.71, up 2.76%.
SM Investments surged 8.27% to P805, while PLDT was up 2.18% to P2,910. GT Capital and LT Group, which replaced Meralco and Belle in the 30-member index, also rose.
Airlines got a boost from lower oil prices. PAL Holdings jumped 4.91% to P5.77, while Cebu Pacific rose 5.71% to P55.50.
At the foreign exchange market, the peso strengthened at 43.61 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, most Southeast Asian stocks climbed to a one-month high on Monday, tracking a rally in Asian stocks, as hopes about the U.S. Federal Reserves monetary stimulus boosted buying interest in large caps with low valuations such as banks.
Thai SET index topped among outperformers, gaining almost 3 percent at one point to 1,441.89, the highest since Aug. 16. Investors bought back recently-battered shares such as Kasikornbank and Siam Commercial Bank.
The benchmark broke above a key resistance at the 1,430 level expected earlier by local brokers.
"We saw good inflows continued from last week and boosted banking shares this morning and should set the index rise to a next resistance at 1,450," said Phillip Securities strategist Teerada Charnyingyong.
Jakarta's Composite Index rose 1.7 percent by midday, extending last week's 7.4 percent gain.
Bank Indonesia's unexpected announcement of a 25 basis points rate hike late last week further lifted shares in banks and underpinned sentiment in the Indonesian rupiah.
"The foreign exchange rate appears to have a ricochet effect on the stock market, as investors continue to buy Indonesian stocks, speeding up index recovery," strategists at broker Bahana Securities in Jakarta wrote in a report.
Shares rallied in Asia on Monday after news Lawrence Summers had dropped from the race to head the Federal Reserve promised to prolong the lifetime of super-easy money. - With ANC and Reuters
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
