THE MAIN INDEX surged past the 8,300 mark on Monday as investors continued to bet on monetary policy easing by the US central bank.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up 223.47 points or 2.74% to close at 8,356.29 on Monday. The broader all-shares index also climbed 99.26 points or 2% to finish at 5,043.96.

“This strong close in the PSEi may also have been influenced by the dovish statement from the US Fed (Federal Reserve) minutes last week. Investors are also looking at the Monetary Board meeting,” Jervin S. de Celis, equity trader at the Timson Securities, Inc., said in a mobile message.

“Philippine stocks broke into bull market territory after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in two days of congressional testimony last week bolstered investor expectations for an interest rate cut at the end of the month,” Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales of Regina Capital Development Corp., said.

Fed chair Jerome Powell, in a testimony before the US Congress last week, hinted on a possible cut in benchmark rates, saying the central bank will “act as appropriate” to sustain expansion as “crosscurrents” such as trade tensions and concern on global growth are weighing on the world’s largest economy.

Mr. Powell’s dovish cues were reinforced by the minutes of Federal Open Market Committee’s June 18-19 meeting, wherein several Fed officials said a near-term interest rate cut is warranted to quell the effects of possible economic headwinds.

Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy-setting Monetary Board will review its settings anew on Aug. 8.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno last week said the local central bank will likely cut policy rates in the second semester before moving to reduce banks’ reserve requirement ratio.

Timson Securities’ Mr. De Celis added that investors are already anticipating the second-quarter results of blue-chip stocks after SM Prime Holdings, Inc. yesterday kicked off earnings season as it reported a 16.4% increase in net income during the second quarter to P10.50 billion from P9.02 billion a year ago.

All sector counters ended in the green led by financials, which increased by 3.37% or 60.43 points to close at 1,849.22. Holding firms went up 3.33% or 258.52 points to 8,016.75; property rose 1.88% or 83.36 points to 4,507.29; industrials climbed 1.83% or 216.59 points to 12,007.84; services added 1.14% or 19.37 points to 1,713.02; and mining and oil gained 1.06% or 79.21 points to end at 7,516.37.

Some 1.59 billion issues valued at P8.51 billion switched hands on Monday, higher than the previous session’s P6.86 billion.

Advancers trumped losers, 124 to 62, while 56 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign buying ballooned to P1.04 billion on Monday from Friday’s P419.49 million.

On Wall Street last Friday, the three main indexes hit record intraday highs on hopes of an interest rate cut this month. — VMPG

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