Stocks climbed on Tuesday, driven mainly by mining issues a day before the Commission on Appointments decides whether Gina Lopez is confirmed as environment secretary.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 42.09 points to end at 7,703.10 as investors and market players returned to action after a long holiday.

However, the peso closed just short of the P50 to one dollar level, ending at P49.99 from P49.95 last Thursday. Volume reached $707.55 million from Thursday’s $787.90 million.

In the broader market, there were 119 gainers and 84 losers while 39 issues were steady. Volume reached 3.11 billion shares valued at P7.25 billion. Foreigners were buyers with purchases of P4.35 billion compared with selling of P4.02 billion.

The mining index gained three percent as heavyweight Semirara towed the gainers by rising 1.41 percent to P151.10. Semirara accounts for 46 percent of the index. Other gainers were Lepanto, Nickel Asia , Global Ferronickel and Apex. DMS