Philippine stocks rose for the second trading day, tracking other Asian markets as investors continue to hunt for bargain stocks.
“Investors were also anticipating the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas meeting this week for clues on interest rate cuts,” Alviar said. Investors are also keeping tabs on Tokyo after Japan’s top currency official warned authorities were ready 24 hours a day to intervene to support the yen as it sits around three-decade lows against the dollar.
Uncertainty surrounding rates has done little to hold back US equities as a blistering surge in tech giants — fueled by an explosion in all things linked to artificial intelligence — has helped push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to multiple records this year. Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok, Wellington, Taipei and Manila were all in the green, though Shanghai dipped after giving up early gains.The yen strengthened, having edged close to 160 to the dollar Monday on fading expectations for a US rate cut any time soon and the Bank of Japan’s slow pace of tightening.
“The pair continues to find resistance around the big figure with Japanese officials increasing verbal intervention,” said National Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril.