Manila: The local stock market closed almost flat on Thursday while the peso strengthened. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished 0.03 percent lower to close at 6,376.79. All Shares, however, went up by 0.28 percent to 3,779.22. Except for Financials, which fell by 1.12 percent, all Sectors recorded gains led by Property, which rose 1.11 percent.

According to Philippines News Agency, "Philippine and US equities delivered a mixed performance on, weighed down by the weakest private sector hiring in two years, tepid payroll gains, and a slipping dollar, all fueling investor caution," Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said. "Meanwhile, price action was fairly muted given the CPI (consumer price index) came in within many analysts' expectations. The May CPI print came at 1.3 percent, which was a slight improvement from the 1.4 percent in April," he added.

Losers and gainers were almost equal at 101 to 100. The peso meanwhile closed stronger against the dollar at 55.62 from Wednesday's 55.77 finish. It opened at 55.64 and traded between 55.56 and 55.7, with the day's average settling at 55.61. Trade volume rose to USD1.77 billion from USD1.36 billion the previous day.