Manila: The Philippine peso gained anew against the greenback Thursday, while the Philippine Stock Exchange index ended its four-day slide partly on bargain-hunting. The local currency improved further after closing the day at 61.58 to the US dollar, from its 61.74 close on Wednesday.

According to Philippines News Agency, the peso opened the day's trade at 61.5, an improvement from its 61.73 start in the previous session. It traded between 61.66 and 61.45, bringing the day's average to 61.61. Volume reached USD1.58 billion, up from the previous day's USD1.54 billion, indicating increased activity in the currency market.

Relatively, the local bourse's main index ended its slide and inched up by 0.46 percent to 5,920.70 points, but the broader All Shares slipped by 0.12 percent to 3,335.85 points. Most sectoral gauges rose during the day, led by the Services index, which jumped 1.23 percent. Trailing behind were Mining and Oil, up by 0.57 percent; Holding Firms, 0.41 percent; and Financials and Property, both 0.20 percent. Only the Industrial index shed during the day, falling 0.61 percent. The trading volume reached 1.03 billion shares, amounting to PHP6.6 billion, with decliners leading advancers at 99 to 69, while 65 shares remained unchanged.

'The local market ended higher after four straight days of decline as selective bargain hunting emerged among investors. However, market participants still looked to remain engaged in short-term positions amid cautious sentiment,' said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales.