Index at new all-time high

MANILA, Philippines - The local stock market jumpstarted the week with another bullish performance en route to a record 17th all-time high this year.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed 0.67 percent or 43.59 points to end at a fresh peak of 6,565.23. It also posted a new intraday high at 6,582.51.The previous high for the PSEi was recorded just last Feb. 13 when it closed at 6,521.64.

The broader All Shares index added 0.45 percent or 18.51 points to 4,119.95.

“Share prices went to higher planes as investors, especially international fund managers, resumed their trading after the Chinese Lunar Year break,” Freya Natividad, investment analyst at brokerage firm 2Trade-Asia.com, said in a phone interview.

She said investors also took leads from the US markets. On Friday, the winning streak in Wall St. continued, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 0.1 percent or 8.37 points to 13,981.76 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 0.1 percent or 1.59 points to 1,519.79.

Some investors also picked equities amid higher yields compared with commodities like gold, copper and crude oil, Natividad said.

“Despite conventional measures’ long standing suggestions that share prices may have over-extended past both technical and fundamental parameters, equities have remained on top of investor preferences,” said Justino B. Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Equities Inc.