MANILA, Philippines -- Local stocks surged anew on Wednesday as a modest overnight gain in Wall Street spurred follow-through buying.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 27.10 points or 0.76 percent to 3,593.41.

The day's rally was led by the upbeat trading on industrial and holding firms, which went up by 1.45 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

Only the mining/oil counter was down due to some profit-taking on Philex Mining Corp. Philex shares fell by 0.7 percent to P11.16 as investors pocketed gains following the run-up triggered by the firm's prospective investment in the $5.2-billion Tampakan mine in South Cotabato.

There were 85 advancers as against 44 decliners while 39 stocks were unchanged. Value turnover was heavier at P6.8 billion compared to the daily average of a little over P4 billion due to a block sale on Lopez-led power generation firm First Gen Corp.

Among the day's gainers were International Container Terminal Services Inc., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Energy Development Corp., Aboitiz Power Corp., Megaworld Corp., Banco de Oro Unibank Inc., Ayala Corp., Jollibee Foods Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Agrinurture Inc., SM Investments Corp. DMCI Holdings Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc.

On the other hand, investors traded blue chips Philipine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Ayala Land Inc. with caution.