By Komfie Manalo
Bargain hunters lifted the local stock market on Monday, with the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) posting gains after eight straight days of losses.
The PSEi gained 113.98 points to close at 6,272.46, while the All Shares also went up by 32.57 points to 3,407.77.
"The local bourse had a strong rebound, increasing by 113.98 points (1.85%) to 6,272.46 following eight consecutive days of decline. Many investors have decided to buy stocks at bargain levels after the market's steep decline last week," Philstock Financials Inc. research associate Claire Alviar said.
"Moreover, the increase in infrastructure spending for the first four months of the year helped lift the sentiment," Alviar said.
The mining sector was the sole loser, dropping by 0.16%, while other sectors followed the main index's performance, with the Properties having the biggest gain of 3.52%.
Decliners led advancers at 105 to 80, while 46 shares were unchanged.
The peso meanwhile closed at 58.8 to a dollar, matching the closing last Friday.
It opened at 58.85 and traded between 58.78 and 58.85, bringing the average weighted for the day to 58.811.
The total trade volume declined to $559.25 million from Friday's $807.95 million.
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