Manila, Oct. 22 -- An official of an investment firm on Thursday expressed optimism for the rise of the local bourse's main index to the 6,000 level by end-2026 amid possible hikes in the central bank's key rates, banking on positive earnings by listed firms.

In an interview at the sidelines of the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) International Conference in Intramuros, Manila, Jesus Mariano Ocampo, president and chief operating officer of Investment and Capital Corporation of the Philippines (ICCP), forecasts up to 50 basis points increase in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) key rates until December.

He said market players are already considering an announcement for a 25 basis points increase after the Monetary Board's (MB) rat...