Manila: Bargain hunting eventually lifted the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) on Thursday, and the peso closed sideways at the 56-level against the greenback. After several days of slide, the local bourse's main index rose by 0.39 percent to 6,106.92 points, and the All Shares by 0.39 percent to 3,677.92 points.

According to Philippines News Agency, all the sectoral indices also finished with gains, led by the Property and the Mining and Oil sectors, which both rose by 1.08 percent. Services increased by 0.78 percent, Financials by 0.27 percent, Holding Firms by 0.10 percent, and Industrial by 0.06 percent. Volume reached 1.06 billion shares, amounting to PHP4.8 billion. Advancers led decliners at 111 to 88 while 53 shares were unchanged.

'The market saw a slight relief as investors engaged in bargain hunting, taking advantage of cheaper stock prices,' Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said. 'Moreover, the upcoming inflation report, expected tomorrow, could serve as a key catalyst that may influence how the stock market performs in the coming weeks,' he added.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is scheduled to report the domestic economy's August 2025 inflation report on Friday, with a consensus rate of 1.5 percent, partly due to the impact of weather disturbances since last month. Last July, the rate of price increases slipped to 0.9 percent from the month-ago's 1.4 percent, bringing the seven-month average to 1.7 percent.

The local currency also ended on a positive note, finishing at 56.98 to a dollar from its 57.3 close on Wednesday. It opened the day at 57.3, better than its 57.51 start in the previous session. It traded between 57.32 and 56.98, bringing the average to 57.21. Volume reached USD1.46 billion, up from the day-ago's USD1.37 billion.