The Philippine Stock Exchange index has joined the regional rally. The benchmark index closed at 6,360.73, a rise of 52.55 points or 0.83%.

The mining and oil sectors led all the others with a 2.17%. There were also more advancers compared with decliners. Ninety-one issues advanced, whereas only 35 declined. Meanwhile, 35 issues remained the same.

Top gainers were stocks of Mariwasa, Purefoods, and Lepanto A and B. On the other hand, the biggest losers were Calapan, ATN Holdings, and Jolliville. SM Prime, Metro Pacific, BDO, and Metrobank were the actively traded stocks. In all, there were 294.89 million stocks changing hands. These were worth Php1.99 billion.

This activity in the market was a response to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, stating the need for the US' need of favorable monetary policy."Financial markets welcomed Bernanke's statement... There was a lot of positive market-moving news that encouraged bargain hunters back to the market," Astro del Castillo, First Grade Finance Inc.'s managing director.