Philippine shares surged Monday, the first trading day of the year, with investors taking their cue from last week's rally on Wall Street.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 101.84 points, or 5.4 percent, to 1,974.69.

Investors followed the lead of U.S. markets, which closed sharply higher on Friday, said Grace Cerdenia, managing director of 2tradeasia.com. They also expected inflation in December to decline further from 9.9 percent in November, she said.

"However, investors will likely take the market on a day-to-day basis to see if the 2009 run-up can be extended," she said.

Top-traded Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. climbed 5 percent to 2,220 pesos. Rival Globe Telecom Inc. was higher by 3.9 percent, closing at 790 pesos.

Ayala Corp., the country's largest conglomerate, surged 7 percent to 224 pesos.

Geothermal producer Energy Development Corp. rose 0.3 percent to 2.18 pesos.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 78 to 16, with 23 issues unchanged.

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