Manila: Investors' sentiments continue to impact the local bourse's main index, which again slipped Thursday, while the peso weakened to the 58-level against the US dollar. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 1.09 percent to 6,042.28 points, and All Shares by 0.78 percent to 3,653.50 points.

According to Philippines News Agency, all the sectoral gauges also ended on the red, with Mining and Oil posting the biggest drop at 2.81 percent. It was trailed by Holding Firms at 1.79 percent, Industrial at 1.43 percent, Property at 1.36 percent, Financials at 0.33 percent, and Services at 0.19 percent. Volume reached 2.61 billion shares, amounting to PHP6.97 billion. Decliners led advancers at 134 to 64, while 50 shares were unchanged.

'The market continued to decline today, with selling pressure dominating and no green candles seen throughout the week. Additionally, the depreciation of the PHP (Philippine peso) against the USD (US dollar), with USD/PHP hitting the 58-mark, is weighing on investor sentiment toward Philippine equities,' Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales, said. The local currency ended the day's trade at 58.1 against the greenback from its 57.46 on Wednesday. It opened the day way down at 57.75 from its 57.33 start in the previous session. It traded between 57.73 and 58.17, bringing the day's average to 57.91. Volume surged to USD2.15 billion from the previous trading's USD1.73 billion.