PSEi closes at new all-time high

Philippine equities extended gains for the second consecutive trading day to close at a fresh record high on Monday, driven by the positive sentiment across regional markets.

The benchmark PSEi gained 56.50 points or 0.68 percent to close at 8,367.38, beating the previous all-time high of 8,344.05 recorded on October 4, 2017.

Meanwhile, the All Shares climbed 20.48 points or 0.42 percent to 4,909.91. "Most of the regional markets were up today on account that China decided to reduce its reserve requirements. They will implement a cut in the reserve ratio indicating the need to further address liquidity in their own system," Aniceto K. Pangan, equities trader at Diversified Securities Inc., said in a phone interview.

The reserve requirement is the amount of cash a bank must hold in its reserves, against deposits made by customers.

According to a report by Reuters, Australian and US stocks inched higher on Monday, while liquidity was lacking with Japan and South Korea on holiday.

"Philippine markets started on a positive note with US market being closed later due to [Columbus Day] holiday. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are all trading at historic highs," Marita A. Limlingan, president at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a separate text message.