Manila: Positive sentiments in the local bourse allowed the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to finish the week up, but the Philippine peso weakened against the US dollar. The main equities index rose 0.38 percent to 6,315.93 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.22 percent to 3,751.23 points.

According to Philippines News Agency, most of the sectoral gauges also registered gains, led by the Industrial with a 1.01 percent increase. It was followed by Services with a 0.52 percent rise, Property with 0.13 percent, Financials with 0.08 percent, and Holding Firms with a 0.005 percent increase. Only Mining and Oil ended in the red after it declined by 0.63 percent.

Volume reached 1.55 billion shares amounting to PHP10.35 billion. Decliners led advancers at 109 to 83 while 57 shares were unchanged. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the PSEi's rise partly to the expansion in remittance inflows last June, which rose 3.7 percent on an annual basis, and the end-June level by 3.1 percent.

However, he noted the muted growth in the main index partly due to investors' cautious stance as they awaited the results of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the scheduled release of US retail sales reports, the University of Michigan Sentiment report, US inflation expectations, and a drop in the prices of oil in the international market. The PSEi's immediate major resistance level next week is seen at around 6,370.

On the other hand, the local currency ended the week at 57.065 against the US dollar, from its 56.945 finish a day ago. Its weakness was evident early on after opening the day's trade at 57.1 from 56.7 a day ago. It traded between 57.25 and 56.99, bringing the average to 57.14. Volume rose to USD2.01 billion from the previous day's USD1.87 billion. Ricafort forecasts the peso to trade between 56.90 and 57.20 on Monday and 56.70 and 57.30 for the whole of next week.