On the first trading session of the week, the stock market made another impressive performance by breaching the 6,000 mark, less than 800 points away from an investment house’s 2013 forecast for the index.

“The string of good news in Europe and US over the weekend plus reports on the outlook of low interest rates in the domestic arena continue to contribute to the momentum of the market,” said Astro del Castillo, First Grade Finance Inc. managing director.

Jonas Ravelas, chief market strategist of Banco de Oro Unibank Inc., also said that positive news in the local and foreign markets kept stock investors on a buying spree.

On Monday, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged past the 6,000-point level, rising 1.23 percent, or 73.46 points to close at 6,044.91.

The local index breached the critical 6,000 level in the morning session as investors continued to pin their hopes on a global economic recovery.

The broader all-shares also performed well, closing 0.88-percent higher or 33.28 points to 3,811.71.

“We are very proud to have reached and breached the 6,000 level which affirm that market liquidity continues to be strong and investor sentiment remains positive over good news both locally and abroad,” PSE president and Chief Executive Officer Hans Sicat said.

“We also believe that corporate earnings will remain strong for the full year of 2012, which should support the market’s phenomenal performance. Indeed it is more fun at 6,000 and we look forward to setting new records this year,” he added.

Each sub-index was also upbeat with mining and oil registering the best performance, climbing 1.79 percent, or 358.56 to 20,396.43, followed by the financials, which rose by 1.57 percent, or 24.37 points to 1,576.95.

The property index, meanwhile, climbed 1.45 percent, or 34.07 points to 2,384.83, while holding firms went up by 1.24 percent, or 65.91 points to 5,383.36.

The services and industrial counters ended flat, however, closing to 1,791.70 and 9,103.98, respectively.

Market breadth was bullish after advancers outnumbered losers, 107 to 71, while 39 shares were unchanged.

PAST 6,800
On the back of the good performance in 2012 and “strong fundamentals,” the local index in 2013 is poised to move forward past the 6,800 mark, according to First Metro Investments Corp. (FMIC).

At a 2013 economic outlook press briefing, Bede Lovell Gomez, FMIC assistant vice president, said that the 2013 target for PSEi is 6,800 and this is in “sync with accelerating 2013 gross domestic product, 7.5 percent to 8 percent.”

Gomez also said that the consumer sector will still be on top of the fastest growing sectors. Next are utilities, financials, holding companies, among others, which will also contribute big in the growth of the stock index.