Philippine stocks bounced back yesterday, aligning with the recovery in Wall Street.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed at 6,618.52, up by 9.30 points or 0.14 percent while the broader All Shares index gained 4.17 points or 0.12 percent to close at 3,503.68.

The sectoral gauges were mixed but mostly down, with only the financials and property closing in the positive territory.

Mikhail Plopenio of Philstocks Financials said the local market inched up as investors took positive cues from Wall Street overnight amid the decline in the US' long term treasury yields.

'The labor data for the month of November was also cheered by many as it showed strong figures with the employment rate rising to 96.4 percent from the preceding month's 95.8 percent. The local bourse was in the positive territory for the whole session. Heavy selling occurred before the closing bell,' he said.

Total value turnover reached P5.75 billion. Market breadth was negative, 76 to 81 while 67 issues were unchanged.

Elsewhere in Asia, stocks advanced after a tech-led rally on Wall Street as investors look to the next set of US inflation numbers due this week, which could provide further clarity on when the Federal Reserve might start cutting interest rates.

The positive sentiment across the region's equities markets comes ahead of December's US Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading due to be published on Thursday.

It is expected to show headline inflation rose 0.2 percent in the month and by 3.2 percent on an annual basis.

Overnight, the New York Fed's latest Survey of Consumer Expectations showed that US consumers' projection of inflation over the short run fell to the lowest level in nearly three years in December.

That reinforced bets for Fed cuts to begin soon, though some analysts say the market pricing of monetary easing is overdone.

'The market is now looking for five US rate cuts in 2024, which we think is too aggressive. We're looking to three, not five,' said Marcella Chow, JPMorgan Asset Management's global market strategist in Hong Kong.

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