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By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated April 13, 2013 - 12:00am





MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed for the fourth straight session yesterday, closing at its 25th all-time high this year on the back of robust foreign buying and gains in markets abroad.

The PSEi jumped 0.87 percent or 59.69 points to end at 6,891.43, eclipsing the previous record of 6,847.47 when the Philippines secured an investment grade score from Fitch Ratings on March 27.

“It’s being driven by flows. I think you should look at who’s been buying the market and I think it’s still foreigners,” said Conrado F. Bate, president and CEO of online brokerage firm COL Financial Group Inc.

“I think the foreigners are very aggressive in this market. They are increasing their weighting in Asia and the ASEAN,” Bate said.

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Locally, almost all counters were in the green, led by the service sector that picked up 1.23 percent or 24.51 points to 2,011.03.

But industrial companies bucked the trend, slipping 0.12 percent or 12.68 points to 10,434.86.

Turnover value dropped to P7.59 billion from P8.07 billion on Thursday. Gainers outpaced decliners anew, 99 to 54, while 48 stocks did not change.

Most active stocks were also in the positive territory, paced by top traded SM Investments Corp. (up 1.43 percent) and Ayala Corp. (up 0.84 percent).

Meanwhile, Asian shares retreated yesterday after recent gains, with investor confidence underpinned by Wall Street’s record-high close overnight, while the yen hovered near four-year lows against the dollar.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent, led by a 1.1-percent drop in South Korean shares and a 0.2 percent fall in Shanghai shares.

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