Manila: Profit-taking after the recent rally pulled down the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) on Thursday, while the peso further weakened against the US dollar. A day after returning to the 6,000 level, the PSEi fell 0.99 percent to 5,984.20, while the broader All Shares index dropped 0.66 percent to 3,334.11. Only the Mining and Oil index gained, rising 1.14 percent.

According to Philippines News Agency, financials posted the biggest loss at 1.36 percent, followed by Property at 1.28 percent, Services at 1 percent, Holding Firms at 0.42 percent, and Industrial at 0.35 percent. Trading volume reached 1.65 billion shares valued at PHP7.88 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers, 100 to 78, while 71 issues were unchanged.

"The Philippine market declined after ending in the green in the previous session, as investors engaged in profit-taking and likely maintained short-term positions amid persistent uncertainty in the Middle East," said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales. He added that sentiment was also weighed down by inflation concerns, "with expectations that price growth could exceed the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) target ceiling of 4 percent after BSP maintained key policy rate in an off-cycle meeting."

During the day, the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas kept its key policy rate steady at 4.25 percent in an unscheduled meeting ahead of its April 23 review. The BSP said the move came "in light of the fast-changing developments and uncertain economic conditions." It also expects inflation to breach the upper end of its 2 percent to 4 percent target band before easing back within range by 2027.

Meanwhile, the peso weakened to 60.23 against the US dollar from 60.10 in the previous session. It opened at 60.20 and traded between 60.27 and 60.15, averaging 60.21 for the day. Volume declined to USD1.17 billion from USD1.71 billion in the previous session.