Manila: Bargain hunting lifted the Philippine Stock Exchange index on Thursday, but the Philippine peso continues its slide against the US dollar. A day after its decline, the main stocks gauge rose by 0.38 percent to 6,053.96 points, and the All Shares by 0.28 percent to 3,637.58 points. Half of the sectors trailed the main index, namely Services, 1.72 percent; Mining and Oil, 1.26 percent; and Industrial, 0.52 percent. On the other hand, the Financials fell 0.56 percent, Holding Firms, 0.13 percent; and Property, 0.10 percent.

According to Philippines News Agency, volume reached 1.42 billion shares amounting to PHP4.8 billion. ‘The Philippine market went up, driven by late bargain hunting toward the end of the trading day as investors sought opportunities after recent declines. However, overall sentiment remained cautious as the peso continued to weaken against the US dollar,’ said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales. On the other hand, the local currency depreciated to 58.61 against the greenback from its 58.41 close a day ago. It opened the trade at 58.5, weaker than its 58.3 start in the previous session, and traded between 58.71 and 58.47. Average for the day stood at 58.61. Volume jumped to USD1.68 billion, from the previous session’s USD1.29 billion.