Manila: Profit-taking dragged the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lower on Friday, snapping its two-day rally, while the Philippine peso weakened against the US dollar. A day after breaching the 6,000-mark, the local bourse's benchmark index declined by 1.21 percent to 5,960.97 points, while the broader All Shares index slipped 0.68 percent to 3,373.37 points.

According to Philippines News Agency, most sectoral indices ended in negative territory, led by Services, which fell 1.53 percent. It was followed by Financials, down 1.32 percent; Holding Firms, 0.83 percent; Property, 0.79 percent; and Industrial, 0.48 percent. Only Mining and Oil posted gains, rising 1.60 percent. Trading volume reached 1.16 billion shares valued at PHP8.52 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers, 97 to 93, while 63 issues were unchanged.

'The PSEi ended lower, snapping its two-day winning streak as investors took profits following the weaker-than-expected GDP (gross domestic product) print,' Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday that domestic output growth slowed to 2.8 percent in the first quarter from 3 percent in the previous quarter, partly due to the effects of the flood control corruption controversy, which dampened consumer and business sentiment.

'Sentiment also turned cautious amid lingering uncertainty surrounding the tension in the Middle East despite the ceasefire remaining in place. As a result, investors adopted a more defensive stance heading into the weekend,' Limlingan said. Negative sentiment also weighed on the local currency, which closed at 60.61 against the US dollar, weaker than Thursday's 60.42 finish. The peso opened at 60.65 and traded between 60.70 and 60.41, bringing the day's average to 60.54. Dollar trading volume reached USD1.91 billion, lower than the previous session's USD2.4 billion.