Manila: Bargain hunting, following the slide in the local bourse's main index, lifted the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) on Thursday as the local currency gained to the U.S. dollar. The PSEi rose 1.08 percent to 6,398.60 points and the broader All Shares by 0.62 percent to 3,619.00 points.

According to Philippines News Agency, most of the sectoral gauges also rose during the day, namely Holding Firms, 1.27 percent; Financials, 1.02 percent; Services, 0.96 percent; Industrial, 0.89 percent; and Property, 0.58 percent. Only Mining and Oil ended in the red, declining 1.82 percent.

Volume reached around 799.89 million shares amounting to PHP6.6 billion. Advancers led decliners at 116 to 82 while 61 shares were unchanged. The PSEi went up after a four-day slide "as concerns over global uncertainty and trade wars eased, improving overall market sentiment," said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation (RCDC) head of sales. "Investors turned to bargain hunting, which provided support to the index. This came after four consecutive days of market decline," he added.

Meanwhile, the Philippine peso sustained its strength against the U.S. dollar, finishing the day at 59.16 from its 59.26 close a day ago. It opened the trade stronger at 59.18 from the previous session's 59.39, and traded between 59.23 and 59.08. Average for the day stood at 59.16. Volume declined to USD1.37 billion from Wednesday's USD1.56 billion.