Stocks rose Thursday, the first trading day of December, as the local bourse was affected by higher share markets in the region.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 83.67 points to end at 6,864.87.

The market was towed by Ayala Corp., which gained 1.79 percent to P739, Ayala Land Inc. rose 1.52 percent to P33.40 and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, which went up by 0.07 percent to 73.30

The peso closed a bit lower at P49.76 against the US dollar from P49.73 on Tuesday. Markets were closed on Wednesday for a national holiday.

Volume at the Philippine Dealing System declined to $404.80 million from $558.70 million on Tuesday. DMS