THE local bourse furthered its gains and returned to the 6,900 territory on Wednesday amid the positive closing of US markets and the government’s fiscal performance.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was up by 0.7 percent or 48 points to 6,918.41, while the broader All Shares rose by 0.5 percent or 20.69 points to close at 4,203.59 on Wednesday.

Japhet Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., attributed the market’s gains to Wall Street’s overnight performance as Nasdaq closed at a new record high.

Nasdaq advanced by 0.79 percent, while the Dow Jones and S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively.

Tantiangco added that investors were also cheered by the government’s fiscal performance as of May, with tax revenues jumping by 27.1 percent year-on-year in the first five months of the year.

He said this reflects the “improving economic conditions compared to the same period last year.”

AAA Equities head of research Christopher Mangun, meanwhile, said the main index was led by the

substantial gains in large cap property firms, along with port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) and fast food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC).

“The performance of these issues is consistent with the ‘economy reopening’ theme that has been driving the market higher,” Mangun explained.

The property sector led the climb of the local sectors at 1.8 percent.

The shares of ICTSI increased by P4.40 or 2.81 percent to finish at P161 apiece, while the shares of JFC improved by P4 or 1.94 percent to close at P210.40 each on Wednesday.

Mangun noted, however, that trading volumes remained below average, which could be a sign that most investors are on the sidelines and are awaiting the results of the meetings of the central bank.

Net value turnover was at P4.71 billion, settling below the year-to-date average of P7.85 billion.

Foreign funds also continued their exodus as the market recorded a net foreign selling of P1.44 billion.

Total volume turnover was at 4.2 billion shares valued at P6.14 billion.

Winners outpaced losers at 116 to 94, while 52 securities were unchanged.