Trump trade pause triggers 1.19% PSEi jump

Although it had started the day ecstatic, the local bourse trimmed some of its early wins on Thursday to settle just below the 6,100 level as investors attempted to shield themselves from escalating trade tensions abroad.

By the closing bell, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) jumped by 1.19 percent, or 71.48 points, to 6,077.82.

Likewise, the broader All Shares Index climbed by 1.12 percent, or 40.14 points, to close at 3,622.94.

A total of 951.3 million shares worth P13.31 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed.

The local stock barometer climbed for the second consecutive session as US President Donald Trump decided to hit the pause button on most of his reciprocal tariffs, just hours after these took into effect.

Trump, however, did not extend the temporary halt to China, which was instead slapped with a 125-percent duty.

This came after Beijing raised its retaliatory tariff on Washington to 84 percent from 34 percent last week.

Retaliation

While the PSEi absorbed some of Wall Street’s overnight euphoria to gain by as much as 3.19 percent early in the day, anxious investors opted to take cover from China’s retaliation.

“The benchmark index opened strongly in the morning, but some of those gains melted away over the trading session as investors took profits and trimmed positions to hedge against the escalating trade war between the US and China,” said Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at investment bank Chinabank Capital Corp.

At the same time, traders kept some of the optimism alive amid expectations that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would ease its monetary policy during its Thursday meeting, according to Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan.

The BSP ended up cutting the rate for overnight borrowing by 25 basis points to 5.5 percent after the stock market had closed.

Index heavyweight and top-traded stock SM Investments Corp. posted a 6.67-percent rally to close at P800.

Other actively traded stocks were BDO Unibank Inc., down 2.34 percent to P154.30; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 2.3 percent to P340; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 1.14 percent to P133; and Ayala Land Inc., up 2.22 percent to P23 each.

Gainers edged out losers, 129 to 72, while 46 companies closed flat, stock exchange data also showed.