PSEi sustains gains; peso flat vs dollar

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) sustained gains on Wednesday, rising by 1.01 percent to 7,080.62 points.

All Shares increased by 0.53 percent while most sectoral gauges also ended with gains led by the Holding Firms index with a jump of 1.88 percent.

The Services and Mining and Oil indexes were exceptions, slipping by 0.78 percent and remaining flat respectively.

Volume totaled 3.9 billion shares amounting to PHP8.8 billion with decliners surpassing advancers at 116 to 108.

Risk-on sentiments ahead of the holidays contributed to the strong December rally alongside a proposed USD908-billion stimulus plan by US lawmakers, including over USD200 billion in small business loans.

On Tuesday, the PSEi rose to the 7,000-level with a 3.21 percent increase to 7,009.56 points, driven by gains across most sectoral indexes except for Financials which slipped by 0.78 percent.

Volume totaled 4.04 billion shares amounting to PHP10.9 billion with gainers leading losers at 119 to 102.

MSCI rebalancing and US stock futures rising due to sharp monthly gains in November also lifted the local bourse, while vaccine hopes kept crude benchmarks on track for a +25 percent rise in November.