The Philippine Stock Exchange index finished at a six-month high while the peso strengthened on Monday.

The index gained 34.16 points to finish at P7,617.91. The broader market saw 101 gainers, 88 decliners and 50 unchanged.

Volume reached 1.48 billion shares worth P6.07 billion from Friday’s P2.17 billion shares valued at P9.74 billion.

Foreigners were net buyers with purchases of P3.29 billion and selling of P2.82 billion,

Gainers were led by Robinsons Land, up 4.56 percent to P25.20 and GT Capital Holdings Inc, 4.45 percent higher to P52.

The index’s performance led Joey Roxas, president of Eagle Equities, to say in a TV interview that the “rally will continue until after the Holy Week.”

The peso closed at P49.705 from P50.08 last Friday. Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist of BDO Unibank, said in a note: “Portfolio flows into the stock market caused the USD/PHP to strengthen.”.DMS