Philippine stock index breaches 6,200

MANILA, Philippines—The local stock market closed at another record high—the 11th since the start of the year—to breach the 6,200 level for the first time in history.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged 42 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 6,234.73 percent on Tuesday while the broader all-shares index gained a similar 0.69 percent.

The strong performance followed statements by President Aquino saying that the Philippine economy likely grew faster than 6 percent—the top end of the government’s target—in 2012. The government will release economic growth figures on Thursday.

All sub-indices were in the green, led by the property counter, which rose 1.37 percent. Lagging behind was the financial sector, which gained only 0.24 percent.

Total volume was 2.67 billion shares valued at P10.131 billion. The 109 advancers led 67 decliners while 40 issues were unchanged. The market’s performance defied expectations by analysts, who said a breather would be necessary for the index to advance past 6,200.—Paolo G. Montecillo