ASIAN shares were mostly higher on Thursday, including Philippine stocks, tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street as investors sought out bargains, including technology stocks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) also gained 114.19 points on Thursday, up by 1.62 percent to 7,183.11.

The PSEi index finally broke above the 7,000 resistance level after a failed attempt earlier this year.

Despite the challenges still facing the economy, stock brokerage firm COL Financial believes that the stock market’s strong performance is sustainable because the number of daily new Covid-19 cases in the Philippines and other Asean countries has already peaked and is on the way down and the diminishing likelihood of hard lockdowns in the capital region due to the high vaccination rate.

It also cited the rotation of foreign funds out of China into Asean due to heightened regulatory risks in the former and the double digit 2022 earnings growth and attractive valuation of the PSEi.

“Although we have a bullish view on the stock market, we recognize that rising commodity prices and the expected increase in inflation are concerning,” COL said in a research note said.

Benchmarks rose in Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney. Markets in Hong Kong were closed for a holiday. (CSL with reports from AP)