The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index climbed to 5,011.09 points at 11:17am (0317 GMT) but later slid to 4,951.91 points with an hour to go before the closing bell. Share prices are up more than 13 percent so far this year, making the relatively small market one of the better-performing in Asia, said Jonas Lacson, research chief at local brokerage firm Campos Lanuza and Co. "This is more of a liquidity-driven rally. The central bank fuelled the activity in the market," Lacson told AFP, referring to expectations the monetary authority would trim interest rates by 25 basis points later Thursday. Apart from the central bank meeting, the equities market has also been driven by low inflation and strong 2011 profit reports by listed companies, said analyst Jun Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. "Looking forward, there is still some upside. The global recovery is gaining a lot of traction and Asia will lead the growth," Calaycay said, adding that China's prospects in particular have a key bearing on Philippine mining stocks. "China is the largest destination of mining products," he said. The central bank is set to announce the result of the latest meeting of its policy-making Monetary Board after the stock market closes at 3:30pm (0730 GMT). The bank trimmed interest rates by a quarter of a percentage-point last month in an effort to cushion the nation's economy from an expected global slowdown this year. The Philippine economy had grown by a lower than expected 3.7 percent last year. Inflation stood at 3.9 percent in January after averaging 4.8 percent last year. Lacson, the stock analyst, said this year's surge pushed stock prices at about 15 times their expected earnings for the year, making them more expensive compared to Southeast Asia's average price-earnings ratio of about 13 times. However Calaycay said a valuation of 15-16 times remained sustainable. The ratio had soared to between 21 and 24 times in 2007 just before the global crisis, he added.