The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index soared to a new record high on Thursday.

The PSE index gained at 44.34 points to touch an all-time high of 8,402.81 from previous close of 8,358.47 on October 10.

"The fact the record was broken showed the prospect for the Philippines is good," Regina Capital senior equity analyst Paul Michael Angelo said in a phone interview with The Daily Manila Shimbun.

Though the market is optimistic as of the moment, Angelo said they are still looking into movement of volume.

"If we have strong volume by tomorrow (Friday), it is possible for the market to break another record," Angelo added.

He also said the tax reform package of the Duterte administration is one of the key catalyst of the strong market as investors are monitoring its progress until the end of the year.

"Once passed, (the tax reform package), there are chances to go beyond further the record," he said.

The All Shares Index closed higher at 4,928.28, up by 20.40 points or 0.42 percent. Volume reached three billion shares valued at P8.20 billion. In the broader market, there were 82 gainers, 122 decliners and 48 unchanged.

Foreign funds were net buyers, with P4.42 billion worth of stocks sold and P4.66 billion bought.

Among most active shares were Ayala Corp, up 2.38 percent to P1077; SM Prime Holdings, up 3 percent to P 35.45; SM Investments Corp., up 1.51 percent to P942 and PXP Energy Corp, up 5.59 percent to P9.25.

The peso closed at P51.43 against the US dollar from P51.35. Volume at the Philippine Dealing System reached $ 821.10 million from $801.80 million. Ella Dionisio/DMS