Manila:Drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) net inflows as of August this year negatively affected Wednesday's trading in the local bourse, and the peso weakened against the U.S. dollar.

According to Philippines News agency, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 0.40 percent to 5,693.20 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.11 percent to 3,200.62 points. Most sectoral gauges also finished in the red, including Services, down by 1.98 percent; Mining and Oil, 1.52 percent; Holding Firms, 0.33 percent; and Financials, 0.10 percent. However, the Industrial sector rose by 1.47 percent and Property by 0.75 percent.

The volume of trade reached 939.4 million shares amounting to PHP6.1 billion. Decliners led advancers at 85 to 81 while 65 shares remained unchanged. Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Tuesday showed that FDI net inflows as of last August went down to USD4.8 billion from the previous year's USD5.9 billion, primarily due to lower net investment in debt papers.

Philstocks Research noted that the report affected sentiments in the equities market. Additionally, higher-than-anticipated U.S. inflation data, along with the peso's weakness during the session, added further pressure on the local bourse. The U.S. inflation rate increased by 0.4 percent, surpassing the 0.3 percent market expectations.

The local currency weakened against the U.S. dollar, ending the day at 63.12 from improving to 62.91 in the previous session. It opened the day at a depreciated level of 63.15, from the prior day's 63.1, and traded between 63.12 and 63.29. The average rate for the day stood at 63.19. The trading volume was USD1.42 billion, lower than the USD1.83 billion recorded a day earlier.