Manila: Bargain hunting allowed the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) to recover Tuesday, even with the depreciation of the Philippine peso against the US dollar to the 59-level. In the past days, the continued weakness of the local currency was traced as a major factor for the PSEi’s decline, but it improved by 0.33 percent to 5,953.16 points during the day.

According to Philippines News Agency, the broader All Shares index also gained, rising 0.22 percent to 3,589.51 points. Half of the sectoral counters also went up, namely Financials increased by 1.15 percent, Services by 0.43 percent, and Holding Firms by 0.05 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil declined by 4.42 percent, Industrial by 0.27 percent, and Property by 0.02 percent.

Volume reached 1.18 billion shares, amounting to PHP4.64 billion. Advancers barely rose against the decliners at 95 to 94, while 62 shares were unchanged. Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, noted, “The Philippine market ended higher, driven by bargain hunting after two consecutive days of strong selling. Investors remained cautious, closely monitoring upcoming earnings reports and the anticipated next move by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which could influence market direction.”

The local currency slipped further against the greenback and closed the day at 59.13, from its 58.58 finish a day ago. It opened the day at 58.9, from 58.6 Monday, and traded between 58.9 and 59.2. The average for the day stood at 59.10. Volume increased to USD1.75 billion from the day-ago’s USD1.6 billion.

During the day, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) maintained that the local currency remains determined by market forces, citing impact of concerns on domestic economic growth due to issues surrounding public infrastructure. It said resilient inflows from Filipinos overseas, along with sustained expansion of the economy and structural reforms, continue to buoy the local currency. “We continue to maintain robust reserves. When we do participate in the market, it is largely to dampen inflationary swings in the exchange rate over time rather than to prevent day-to-day volatility,” BSP added.