The PSEi added 1.15 percent, or about 80 points, to 7,024.67 while the broader All Shares index grew 0.68 percent, or 25.44 points to 3,791.65. This brought gains since the start of the year to 8.4 percent.
“The PSEi finally closed above the 7,000 level for the first time in more than 19 months as investors reacted to a relatively favorable US August headline inflation print as well as an overnight tech-driven rally in US stock markets,” Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at leading investment bank China Bank Capital Corp., said on Thursday.
The US consumer price index rose 0.2 percent in August, matching expectations, bringing the annual inflation rate to 2.5 percent, the lowest since February 2021.
“Market participants also cheered NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan's remarks that Philippine [gross domestic product] could grow faster in the second half of the year,” Colet said.
“If the 7,000 breakout is sustained in the next few days, the market may attempt to hurdle the next resistance at 7,100,” he added.
Large-cap movers were led by International Container Terminal Services (+2.8 percent), DigiPlus Interactive (-4.76 percent), BDO Unibank Inc. (+0.76 percent), Ayala Land Inc. (+2.01 percent), and SM Investments Corp. (+1.55 percent).
