Manila:Bargain hunting helped sustain an increase in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) on Wednesday, while the Philippine peso weakened against the U.S. dollar.

According to Philippines News Agency, the main index of the local bourse climbed by 0.26 percent to reach 5,821.51 points. The broader All Shares index also experienced an increase of 0.14 percent, closing at 3,238.61 points. Among the sectoral indices, Services rose by 1.53 percent, Property by 0.93 percent, and Mining and Oil by 0.43 percent. However, Financials fell by 0.61 percent, Industrial by 0.57 percent, and Holding Firms by 0.39 percent.

Trading volume reached 986.59 million shares, valued at PHP7.05 billion. There were more advancers than decliners, with 92 stocks gaining, 83 declining, and 73 remaining unchanged. Luis Limlingan, the head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corporation, noted that despite the rise in the local index due to continued bargain hunting, optimism was tempered by cautious sentiment among investors.

Investors were reportedly adopting a wait-and-see approach ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) policy-making Monetary Board's (MB) rate-setting meeting scheduled for Thursday. The Monetary Board is expected to raise the central bank's key rates in response to the acceleration of domestic interest rates.

Meanwhile, the Philippine peso concluded the day at 63.36 per U.S. dollar, depreciating from the previous day's close of 63.09. The currency traded between 63.37 and 63.00, with an average level at 63.22. The trading volume for the peso amounted to USD1.34 billion, slightly lower than the USD1.36 billion recorded in the previous session.