The Philippines proved the dark horse among Asian markets last week, outperforming other exchanges in the region with a gain of 5.3 per cent.
While most Asian markets dropped, the Manila index raced to a two-year high, breaking a stubborn 3,000-point resistance level in the process.
News that inflation was tapering off, coupled with rumours that index heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone would report a strong rise in earnings, lifted the market last week.
China shares showed up in both the leaders and the laggards, reflecting the volatility those markets have seen since just before Beijing cut interest rates nearly two weeks ago.
The Thai market also made a rare appearance amongst the leaders, but with a gain of less than half a per cent.
Except for Manila, no regional market had a particularly impressive showing. Several of the leaders ended lower, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index losing 6.62 per cent.
