Manila: Bargain hunting and renewed foreign buying lifted the local stock barometer to open the trading week, reversing last week's losses even as the peso weakened against the United States dollar. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 0.22 percent to 6,075.07 points, while the broader All Shares index gained 0.15 percent to close at 3,363.52 points.

According to Philippines News Agency, the local market rose as investors hunted for bargains following last week's decline. Foreign investors contributed to today's rise with net inflows amounting to PHP38.25 million, as reported by Philstocks Research in a market report. Most of the sectoral gauges also gained during the day, led by the Mining and Oil counter, which rose 0.38 percent. It was followed by Services, up 0.36 percent; Financials and Holding Firms, both up by 0.26 percent; and Property, up 0.11 percent. Only the Industrial index finished in the red, dipping by 0.31 percent.

Trading volume reached 914.53 million shares valued at PHP5.7 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners, 96 to 95, while 66 shares remained unchanged. On the other hand, the local currency finished lower at PHP62.86 from PHP62.68 last Friday. It opened the day at PHP62.75, weaker than the previous session's PHP62.65, and traded between PHP62.75 and PHP62.87, bringing the day's average to PH 62.83. Volume reached USD969.22 million, down from the USD1.14 billion recorded at the end of last week.