The Philippine peso nearly touched P55 against the US dollar before settling at P54.985, a new 17-year low on Friday.

This took place a day after the Monetary Board raised policy rates for the second time, 25 basis points on Thursday.

The peso reached P54.999, also a 17-year low, and hit a high of P54.60.

Volume at the foreign exchange portal of the Bankers Association of the Philippines reached $1.401 billion from Thursday's $1.061 billion.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 152.33 points to end at 6, 217.56.

In the broader market, there were 112 advances, 62 declines and 47 unchanged.

Volume reached 604 million shares worth P4.526 billion from Thursday's 1.08 billion shares valued at P5.42 billion.

Most active shares were led by Ayala Land, up P1.20 to P26.85; Converge, down 20 centavos to P18.50; BDO, up P1.30 to P117.80 and ICTSI, up P5 to P185. DMS