Share prices ended up Wednesday on fresh hopes of a pause in monetary tightening.
The local bourse also took a cue from overseas leads.
The peso closed up as well.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 65.75 points, a 1.01 percent hike to 6,588.90.
The broader all shares index was up 28.26 points or 0.81 percent to 3,519.36.
Gainers edged losers 94 to 91 with 53 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P5.18 billion.
The peso closed at 56.03 to the dollar, up from 56.07 on Tuesday.
The currency opened at 55.97, an intraday high, and hit a low of 56.222. Trading turnover reached $1.3 billion.
Claire Alviar, analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., said Wednesday’s uptick was fueled by “optimistic expectations” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas would consider a pause with monetary tightening during their upcoming meeting as inflation eases.
“Moreover, the increase of cash remittances by 3 percent in March and the positive sentiment from Wall Street overnight also brought optimism on the local bourse,” she added.
Most actively traded BDO Unibank Inc. was up P0.60 to P136.40. Ayala Corp. was up P14 to 670. Globe Telecom Inc. was up P20 to P1,721. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.40 to P33.40. Ayala Land Inc. was up P0.30 to P26.50. Bank of the Philippine Islands was up P1.40 to P104.10. PLDT Inc. was up P12 to P1,219. Jollibee Foods Corp. was up P3.40 to P226. GT Capital Holdings Inc. was up P20 to P495. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was P0.20 to P59.
