Manila: The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) recovered on the last trading day of the week due to bargain hunting, but the Philippine peso weakened against the U.S. dollar anew. The local bourse's main index rose 0.14 percent to 6,297.30 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.06 percent to 3,439.17 points on Friday.

According to Philippines News Agency, two of the sectoral gauges tracked the PSEi but most finished in the red. Services jumped 1.20 percent and Property by 0.78 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil fell 2.12 percent, Financials, 1.03 percent; Holding Firms, 0.32 percent; and Industrial, 0.04 percent. Volume reached 1.01 billion shares amounting to PHP5.2 billion. Advancers led decliners at 113 to 92 while 52 shares were unchanged.

Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, traced the uptick in the PSEI to 'bargain hunting following yesterday's decline, providing support to select shares.' He noted that market sentiment remained cautious as investors continued to digest incoming corporate earnings and assess their implications for valuations. Continued earnings releases are likely to keep stock-specific activity elevated in the next few days.

On the other hand, the local currency depreciated against the U.S. dollar and closed the week at 61.45 from 61.34 a day ago. It opened the day's trade at 61.4, down from its 61.2 in the previous session. It traded between 61.48 and 61.34, resulting in an average of 61.41 for the day. Volume reached USD1.42 billion, lower than Thursday's USD1.7 billion.