Philippine stock market just 154 points from a bull run

Bloomberg

The Philippine stock market flirted with a bull market run on Wednesday, before ending the day lower. Still, the benchmark recovered a remarkable 18% in just three months, and investors say positive earnings results will further spur gains.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index climbed as much as 1.8 percent in Manila, before it fizzled, dipping below the 8,212.59 level and closing the day 0.1 percent lower at 8,058.45. The surge since a two-year low in November has been on optimism that slowing inflation will boost earnings and support valuations. That’s encouraged foreign
investors to return, as they poured more than $413 million into the nation’s equity funds this year.
The Philippine equity market has regained about $22 billion in value this year after more than $31 billion evaporated in 2018, when escalating inflation fueled one of the most aggressive policy-rate tightening in Asia and weakness in the peso. Overseas investors withdrew almost $1.1 billion from the nation’s stocks in 2018, with the US-China trade war adding to weak
sentiment.