Manila: Late-day buying saved the local index from shedding, while the peso remained flat during Wednesday's trade. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) increased by 0.56 percent to 7,280.24, with All Shares improving by 0.48 percent to 3.996.58 points. Except for Holding Firms, which declined by 0.10 percent to 6,127.13, and the Property counter, which closed flat at 2,791.76, all indices closed with gains. Leading those in the green territory were Financials, with shares rising 1.09 percent to 2,396.74; Industrial, up by 0.79 percent to 9,930.87; Services, up by 0.63 percent to 2,225.78; and Mining and Oil, up by 0.21 percent to 8,616.64. 'Investors hunted for bargains with robust third-quarter or first nine months corporate results giving sentiment a boost. Trading was tepid, however, as investors were still in a cautious mode amid lingering downside risks, including the peso's weakness and uncertainties over the US' upcoming elections,' Philstock Financials research manager Japhet Tantiangco sai d. Despite the overall improvement in the local bourse, decliners outnumbered gainers at 99 to 88, with 58 counters left unchanged. Meanwhile, the Philippine peso ended the day slightly appreciating by 0.05 and closing at 58.23 to the US dollar from its 58.28 close on Tuesday. The currency pair opened the day at the same level as the previous trading at 58.20 to the dollar. It traded between a low of 58.13 and a high of 58.33, bringing the day's average to 58.25 to the greenback. Volume of trade increased to USD1.24 billion from USD1.17 billion in the previous day. Source: Philippines News Agency