Stocks closed higher on Thursday as the central bank’s policy-making body held rates during its meeting,

The Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 46.10 points to end at 7,301.03. At the broader market, there were 94 gainers against 83 decliners, with 58 issues unchanged.

Volume declined to 1.07 billion shares valued at P5.58 billion from Wednesday’s 1.28 billion worth P7.73 billion. Foreign selling reached P3.45 billion while foreign buying was at P3.06 billion.

Gainers were led by Keppel Philippines, up 10.96 percent to P5.67 followed by MRC Allied, 8.89 percent higher to 0.233 and Global Ferronickel Holdings, 7.38 percent up to P2.57.

The peso closed at P50.325 from P50.320 against the US dollar. At the Philippine Dealing System, volume rose to $551.70 million from $381.7 million on Wednesday. DMS