Manila: A wait-and-see stance on the developments following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) resulted in the negative close of both the local bourse's main index and the currency on Thursday.

According to Philippines News Agency, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 0.74 percent to 6,305.75 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.93 percent to 3,415.35 points. Half of the sectoral gauges gained during the day - Mining and Oil by 1.51 percent; Financials by 0.24 percent; and Property by 0.09 percent. On the other hand, Industrial slipped 3.81 percent; Holding Firms, 0.68 percent; and Services, 0.09 percent.

Volume reached nearly 997.6 million shares amounting to PHP6.23 billion. Decliners led advancers at 113 to 65, while 54 shares were unchanged. Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales, said investors are all eyes on SONA-related issues, especially on power. "Market sentiment was also weighed down by the latest Fed (Federal Reserve) decision to leave interest rates unchanged," he said. "Overall, cautious trading prevailed as investors assessed the implications of the policy stance and domestic developments."

The Federal Open Market Committee, after its two-day meeting that ended on July 29, left the US central bank's key interest rates between 3.5 percent and 3.75 percent, the fifth consecutive pause as inflation remains above the Fed's 2 percent target. With these developments, the Philippine peso weakened against the US dollar and finished the day at 61.56 from its 61.41 close on Wednesday.

It opened the trade stronger at 61.41 from 61.65 the previous day and traded between 61.58 and 61.34, bringing the day's average to 61.43. Volume reached USD1.37 billion, lower than the previous session's USD1.62 billion.