The market picked up some gains, taking its cue from the uptick in the major US exchanges following the widely expected half a percentage point hike in Federal interest rates last Tuesday.
The main index closed 26.07 points or 1.73 percent higher at 1534.05. All counters, except the unmoved oil sector, contributed to the market's advance.
Wall Street and Nasdaq sustained their rally as investors felt the Federal Reserve's decision to boost interest rates by 50 basis points meant that the worst of the rate increase was over. According to analysts, the BSP's decision was expected and already well-discounted into prices.
In other Asian bourses, trades closed mixed as the advances in Taiwan, Korea and Indonesia were negated by the drop in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
Volume of trades went up to 2.388 billion shares valued at P1.324 billion. Gainers continued to outnumber losers almost three-to-one, 65 to 23, while 37 stocks were unchanged.
Index heavyweights PLDT, Ayala Land, Meralco, BPI and Benpres led the market movers, all propped up by renewed buying interest from institutional investors. PLDT was the most active stock, improving P30 to P735 despite a one percent drop in its New York value.
PLDT reported lower first quarter profits of P110 million, 91 percent less than a year earlier due principally to higher marketing and sales costs incurred by cellular subsidiaries Smart and Piltel.
ALI and sister company BPI likewise moved up to P5.1 and P80, respectively, along with Meralco B and Benpres Holdings' with higher and prices of P61.5 and P4.85.
The Ayala group announced it has entered into a joint with two Hong Kong companies to develop a luxury residential apartment in Repulse Bay, a popular site in the Chinese province. BPI, meanwhile, moved up on news it was eyeing two state-run television stations in line with its the strengthening of its multimedia operations although BPI vice president and corporate secretary Carlos Aquino said they "have not expressed any interest nor intention to invest in media."
On the other hand, stocks that fell on profit taking include gaming firm BW Resources and Internet stocks PhilWeb and iVantage. BW, the second most active stock, ended 20 centavos lower to P5.4 while PhilWeb iVantage lost half a centavo and 18 centavos, respectively to close at P0.16 and P1.56.
Also on the Internet trail, Island Mining and Industrial Corp. said it has entered into an MOA with Taiwan's Nando Net International wherein the latter would provide technical assistance and invest US$10 million in equity in island to propel the company's venture into the information technology arena.