“Investors continued to bargain-hunt into the Philippine market as the first batch of [third] earnings indicated the economy has been able to withstand the downturn of the global economy,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said.
“Bets were also being made on the possibility that [the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] may raise the benchmark rates by more than 100 [basis points] before the year ends to match the step of the Fed rate hike moves,” he added. The financial subsector rose 1.45 percent, followed by holding firms, up 0.88 percent; property, up 0.77 percent; and industrial, up 0.65 percent.