(UPDATE) Stocks break 7,000 mark on US rally

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine stock market closed at the elusive 7,000 level after the US equities posted another strong rally.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 1.07 percent or 74.76 points to 7,061, while the broader all-share index up by 0.56 percent or 23.25 points to 4,200.80.

Trading volume reached 2.79 billion shares worth P11.28 billion ($258.12 million) with 98 stocks advancing, 83 declining, and 48 were unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the mining and oil sector bucked the trend.

2TradeAsia.com said investors took their cue from Wall Street's overnight rise on talks that the US Federal Reserves might not raise rates sooner than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up by 91 points on Wednesday.

"As the earnings season begins to unwind, investors will begin to reconsider other influences, global geopolitical tensions and domestic political stirrings, among others," analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment.

The analyst said some corporate goings-on such as mergers, acquisitions may come to the fore as well as to keep investors minds busy ahead of the release of second quarter and first semester GDP numbers by or approaching month-end.

"The PSEi may be expected to continue to test the 7,000 resistance while holding support at 6,930 to 6.950," he said.

Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly up. These include Ayala Land, Inc., heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and Ayala Corp.