PSEi gains on bargain hunting, peso closes flat

MANILA: The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) sustained its gains for the third consecutive day, thanks to bargain hunters, while the peso closed sideways during mid-week's trading. The PSEi closed Wednesday at 6,313.11, or 0.22 percent higher than the previous day's trading. All Shares also increased 0.28 percent to 3,450.58. Among sectoral indices, only Holding Firms and Mining and Oil ended in the negative territory, down by 0.64 and 0.12 percent, respectively. This day's winners included Services, up 0.86 percent; followed by Industrial, 0.63 percent; Property, 0.22 percent; and Financials, 0.15 percent. 'Local shares closed slightly above the 6,300 level as bargain hunting continued before the semester end. This patterned the mixed performance of US equities,' Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said. Decliners outpaced advancers at 90 to 85, with 69 left unchanged. Meanwhile, the peso shed 0.09 to 58.86 to a US dollar from previous day's finish of 58.77 to a dollar. The local currency opened Wednesday at 58.82, weaker than the previous kick-off at 58.73 to the dollar. The currency pair traded between 58.77 and 58.88, bringing the average level for the day at 58.82. Volume of trade fell to USD720.25 million from last week's USD814.1 million. Source: Philippines News Agency