Manila, April 1 -- The Philippines' main equities index rose for the second day in a row on Wednesday but the peso weakened against the greenback as investors remain worried about the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 1.64 percent, or 87.29 points, to 5,408.52 points.

All Shares improved by 1.27 percent, or 41.04 points, to 3,278.81 points.

Services posted the highest increase with 2.27 percent, followed by the Holding Firms, 1.80 percent; Mining and Oil, 1.35 percent; Financials, 1.29 percent; Property, 1.08 percent; and Industrial, 0.80 percent.

Volume totaled 498.18 million shares amounting to PHP5.58 billion.

Gainers surpassed losers at 99 to 87, while 41 shares were unchanged.

"Philippine shares started the second quarter (2Q) on an optimistic note as investors are hoping the market has bottomed, with many strategists expecting a 'V' shaped recovery, a sharp drop in GDP (gross domestic product) in 2Q '20, and a swift snapback in the 3Q (third quarter) '20," Regina Capital managing director Luis Limlingan said.

Limlingan said oil prices rose anew on Tuesday after the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to stabilize the energy market.

Meanwhile, the peso depreciated against the US dollar after ending the day at 50.88 compared to the 50.68 close the previous day.

It opened the day on a better level at 50.70 than its 50.85 start on Tuesday, trading between 50.93 and 50.67, with an average of 50.782.

Volume reached USD346 million, lower than the USD363.1 million in the previous session.