Manila: Bargain-hunting lifted the local bourse's main index on Tuesday, this week's first trading day after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception holiday, but the peso weakened against the US dollar. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.46 percent to 5,976.64, while the broader All Shares declined by 0.33 percent to 3,466.21 points.
According to Philippines News Agency, half of the sectors tracked the main index, including Property, which rose by 1.62 percent; Services, which increased by 0.82 percent; and Holding Firms, which saw a rise of 0.65 percent. However, the Mining and Oil sector fell by 2.5 percent, Financials by 0.91 percent, and Industrial by 0.12 percent.
Volume reached 1.19 billion shares amounting to PHP10.54 billion. Decliners led advancers at 132 to 83, while 48 shares remained unchanged. PhilStocks Financials Inc., in a market report, mentioned that investors were hunting for bargains following last week's drop of the main index. The report highlighted that hopes for policy rate cuts by both the Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas helped in building gains.
On the currency front, the local currency ended the day at 59.22 from 58.93 on Friday. It opened the day at 59.08 and traded between 59.22 and 59.07, with an average of 59.13. The trading volume reached USD 1.1 billion, down from the previous session's USD 1.42 billion.
