The local stock barometer firmed up above the 7,500 level Wednesday, tracking the improved risk appetite in Wall Street overnight.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 29.62 points or 0.39 percent to close at 7,586.96
Investors picked up large-cap stocks as the index neared the support level at 7,500. Domestic investors kept the index afloat at this support level as foreign investors remained net sellers for the day amounting to P272 million.
Except for the industrial counter, all sub-indices gained, led by mining/oil and property, whcih both respectively rose by 2.18 percent and 1.39 percent.
Value turnover for the day amounted to around P6.4 billion.
Market breadth was positive, with 116 advancers beating 64 decliners while 50 stocks were unchanged.
SM Prime perked up the PSEi and the property sub-index with its 2.22-percent gain. BDO, GTCAP, JG Summit, ALI and Megaworld all rose by more than 1 percent. Metrobank, AC and SMIC also modestly gained.
Outside of the PSEi, investors loaded up on shares of Bloomberry (+6.03 percent), Nickel Asia (+2.95 percent), Manila Water (+2.6 percent), Cebu Air (+1.62 percent) and Cemex (+0.33 percent).
On the other hand, Security Bank, URC and MPI slipped.
A notable decliner outside PSEi was Puregold, which fell by 2.91 percent. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla