Manila: A day after the latest 25 basis points reduction in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) key rates, both the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) and the Philippine peso weakened Friday. The main stocks gauge fell 0.56 percent to 6,155.57 points, and the All Shares went down by 0.44 percent to 3,686.88 points.

According to Philippines News Agency, most of the sectoral gauges also finished in the red, with Property posting the biggest drop at 0.98 percent. It was trailed by the Services at 0.89 percent, Holding Firms at 0.79 percent, and Industrial at 0.54 percent. However, Mining and Oil rose by 1.20 percent, and Financials by 0.57 percent. Volume reached 1.63 billion shares, amounting to PHP6.8 billion. Decliners led advancers at 113 to 89 while 57 shares were unchanged.

Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, noted that "the market continues its bearish trend as investors appear to have already priced in the BSP's rate cut, which was widely anticipated." He added that "despite the policy easing, sentiment remains cautious as selling pressure persists, suggesting that investors are probably waiting for stronger catalysts before taking on additional risk."

Relatively, the local currency depreciated against the US dollar and closed at 57.13 from its 57.12 close Thursday. This countered its strong opening for the day at 56.93 from the previous session's 57.05. It even strengthened to 56.88 mid-trade, but also weakened to 57.2. The average for the day stood at 57.04. Volume reached USD1.7 billion, lower than the day-ago's USD1.86 billion.