THE benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 113.29 points to close at 8,294.14 points.
Marita Limlingan, president of Regina Capital and Development Corp., said it was an important trading week as several central banks all over the world will hold their policy meetings, including those of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), scheduled on Thursday.
“We expect the BSP to leave policy rates unchanged,” Limlingan said. “On inflation, our projections suggest that year over year could stay quite muted through the end of the year.”
Most subindices managed to gain, led by the broader All Shares index that rose 50.15 points to close 4,886.48; the Financials index climbed 19.08 to 1,992.94; the Holding Firms index was up 184.28 points; but the Industrial index shed 9.22 to 11,358.04 and the Mining and Oil index fell 16.56 to 14,252.16.
“The PSEi’s ascent was mostly in-step with gains in Wall Street and other Asian markets. We are pleased to see the momentum continuing behind investor optimism over the market’s prospects,” PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said.
Year to date, the PSEi has gained 21.2 percent.
SM Investment Corp. was the day’s most active, gaining P33.50 to close at P868.50; Ayala Corp. rose P43.50 to P972, Ayala Land Inc. climbed P1 to P46; SM Prime Holdings Inc. added P0.20 to P35; and BDO Unibank Inc. was up P1.20 to P130.10.
Total value of trade reached P8.1 billion on 1.3 billion shares traded. Gainers led losers 121 to 83, and 46 shares were unchanged.