The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose Monday partly on positioning ahead for the new year while the peso ended sideways against the US dollar.

The main equities index gained 0.97 percent, or 69.11 points, to 7,203.67 points.

All the other counters also finished the day with gains, led by the All Shares, which rose 0.84 percent, or 35.68 points, to 4,286.05 points.

The Industrial index posted the highest increase among the sectors after it jumped by 1.38 percent.

It was trailed by the Property index which rose by 1.35 percent; Mining and Oil, 1.21 percent; Services, 1.003 percent; Holding Firms, 0.86 percent; and Financials, 0.28 percent.

Volume totaled 45.27 billion shares amounting to P9.56 billion.

Gainers led losers at 122 to 114, while 37 shares were unchanged.

“Local shares closed higher after profit-taking last Friday with the index closing a few points above 7,200, as traders brushed off US jobs report and continued positioning ahead of 2021,” Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said.

NO BIG CHANGE IN PESO-DOLLAR RATE

Meanwhile, the peso finished the trade little changed against the greenback at P48.08 from P48.04 Friday last week.

It opened the day at P48.07, sideways from its P48.04 start in the previous session.

It traded between P48.09 and P48.055, resulting in an average of P48.07.

Volume totaled to $39.45 million, lower than the $1.02 billion in the previous session. CURRENTPH