The local stock barometer tested the 7,400 mark in intraday trade on Monday before trimming gains, in line with mostly upbeat regional sentiment.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) added 14.91 points or 0.21 percent to close at 7,304.79.
The index hit an intraday peak of 7,432.40 before ending closer to the day’s low of 7,285.08.
“It’s looking to be the start of a very exciting week with last Friday’s massive run-up for the PSEi looking to extend its gains this week—more so with the 50-day moving average support holding up picture perfectly as seen in our … chart,” Papa Securities said.
“US markets also managed to see new all-time highs once again as we inch closer to the start of a Biden and democratic government despite the turmoil in the Capitol a week ago,” it added.
The next resistance for the index after breaking the December high of 7,311 is seen at the 7,500 level.
“This appears to be quite reachable as RSI (relative strength index) is not at the overbought territory anymore as compared to the situation a month ago,” Papa Securities said.
The PSEi was led higher by the industrial and services counters, which both rose by over 1 percent, while the financial and holding firm counters both firmed up by less than 1 percent.
On the other hand, the mining/oil counter fell by 1.16 percent, while the property counter slipped by 0.55 percent.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P11.52 billion.
There were 129 advancers that overwhelmed 94 decliners, while 46 stocks were unchanged.
Investors mostly focused on stocks outside the main index, gobbling up the likes of Premier Horizon and Apollo Global, the day’s two most actively traded companies, which respectively surged by 26.67 percent and 29.35 percent.
MRC Allied also racked up 15.87 percent, while Cirtek surged by 11.8 percent.
Within the main index, Jollibee gained 3.43 percent, while PLDT added 2.53 percent.
BDO and Metrobank both advanced by over 1 percent, while ICTSI, Globe Telecom, URC and Ayala all added less than 1 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA INQ