Bellwether index remains bullish, passes 7,400

The local bourse opened the trading week by resuming upward, climbing by 164.93 points, or 2.27 percent, to close at 7,417.25.

Most of the sectors were in green, with Banking leading the gainers up by 3.69 percent, followed by Services and Holding Firms, up by 2.01 percent and 1.95 percent, respectively.

Miners were the lone ones in red, down by 0.01 percent.

Bank of the Philippine Islands was the top index gainer, climbing by 5.06 percent to P139.20. Meanwhile, Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. was at the bottom, shredding by 2.67 percent to P16.80.

The sentiment performance comes after investors continued to cheer the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) move to cut banks’ reserve requirement ratios, said Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Tantiangco.

He added the BSP and Fed’s monetary policy-easing prospects also boosted the local bourse.

The net value turnover was P8.27 billion, with 121 advancers, 93 decliners, and 52 names unchanged.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company was the most actively traded stock, valued at P980.73 million, up by 2.38 percent, followed by International Container Terminal Services Inc. at P637.9 million, up by 2.63 percent.

The peso closed at P55.97 to a dollar. Last Friday, it finished at 55.69.

It opened at 55.67, with its lowest at 55.67 and highest at 55.97.

The weighted average was 55.74.