Upbeat sentiment fuels PSEi to 26th all-time high

Philippine share prices climbed further, with the PSEi breaching 8,100 before settling a few points below the mark, as the strong market sentiment continued to fuel buying into the market.

The benchmark PSEi rose 44.94 points or 0.56 percent to 8,098.68, its 26th record close for the year. It also set a new intraday high of 8,136.97.

This is the seventh straight session the PSEi has closed at a record high.

The broader All Shares index added 21.71 points or 0.47 percent to 4,628.79.

Nearly 1.7747 billion shares worth P5.562 billion were traded. Decliners edged advancers, 97 to 83, while 48 stocks were unchanged.

The local market is continuing its momentum, tracking the overnight climb on Wall Street, Unicapital Securities Inc. research head Lexter Azurin told GMA News Online.

"The market's movement is mainly following the big rise in US market last night," he said.

US stocks rose on Monday after a weaker-than-expected jobs report drove expectations that the Federal Reserve will postpone its first interest rate increase in nearly a decade, Reuters reported.

Azurin said the local market basically trades on a momentum on upside after the Holy Week break last week.

"Investors' sentiment were upbeat after the long break, and just continued today," he said.

For the week, the analyst said there may be some momentum in the next few days but might be susceptible to some short-term profit taking.

"The PSEi has been trading at record levels for seven straight sessions so people might become cautious in trading," Azurin noted. — BM, GMA News