Manila: Selling pressures and concerns about the impact of the rainy season on domestic inflation led to a further drop in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) on Monday, but the peso ended little changed against the US dollar. The local bourse's main index shed 0.25 percent to 6,140.35 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.09 percent to 3,683.55 points.

According to Philippines News Agency, most of the sectoral gauges also ended in the red -- Holding Firms, 0.65 percent; Services, 0.47 percent; Financials, 0.30 percent; and Industrial, 0.10 percent. On the other hand, Mining and Oil rose by 4.33 percent and Property by 0.09 percent. Volume reached 1.15 billion shares, amounting to PHP4.21 billion. Advancers led decliners at 110 to 96, while 55 shares were unchanged.

Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said "sellers continue to exert control over the market." He added that the downturn likely reflects sentiment driven by forecasts suggesting an inflation growth this month, as it is affected by the bad weather that stormed the country last month.

The peso ended the day's trade sideways against the greenback at 57.16 from its 57.13 close Friday last week. This, even after the local currency opened the trade weaker at 57.12 compared to its 56.93 start in the previous session. It traded between 57.35 and 57.12, resulting in an average of 57.26. Volume went down to USD1.06 billion from USD1.7 billion in the previous trading.