PSEi at 23rd record high, still under 8,000

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged to another record close – the 23rd this year aided by quarter-end window dressing and the rally in US stocks overnight.

On Wall Street Monday the Dow rose 1.49 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.22 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 1.15 percent. And in Europe the Frankfurt DAX 30 jumped 1.83 percent, the CAC 40 in Paris ended 0.98 percent higher and London's FTSE 100 climbed 0.53 percent.

The PSE’s main index ended yes- terday at 7,940.49, up 41.08 or 0.52 percent from yesterday’s record close of 7,899.41 even though sectoral indices were mixed.

The property index led gainers and advanced 1.60 percent after closing in the red in the previous session while the services, financials, and mining and oil sectors declined.

Decliners beat losers 109 to 80 while 34 issue were unchanged as 3.73 billion shares worth 12 billion changed hands during the day.

With this latest record close, the PSEi has broken through new record highs 223 times since the start of the year.

Accord Capital Equities Corporation analyst Justino Calaycay Jr. noted that the market was able to shrug off the over 100 point drop in the index just before Monday’s session closed due to window dressing and the strong US market.

“Today’s performance was boosted by Wall Street’s gains which buoyed local investors’ sentiment,” said BDO chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas.

Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday after China's decision to ease mortgage rules fuelled hopes for further stimulus measures, but afternoon prof-