Manila: The local bourse's main index and the local currency closed in negative territory on Thursday as investors traded cautiously ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) afternoon announcement, where the Monetary Board raised key rates by another 25 basis points.

According to Philippines News Agency, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell for the third straight day, tumbling 2.16 percent to 6,004.58 points, as the broader All Shares also declined by 1.62 percent to 3,339.50 points.

All the sectoral gauges also ended in negative territory, led by Services after it dipped 3.81 percent. It was trailed by the Financials counter, which declined 1.67 percent; Industrial, 1.55 percent; Holding Firms, 1.39 percent; Mining and Oil, 0.74 percent; and Property, 0.58 percent.

Volume reached 1.08 billion shares amounting to PHP7.82 billion. Decliners led advancers at 126 to 55, while 54 shares were unchanged.

In a market report, Philstocks Research said the local market declined as investors traded cautiously while waiting for the BSP policy decision. It said the hike in the BSP rates 'added to the bearish sentiment as higher interest rates are expected to further slow down the economy's growth, holding all other things constant.'

After its rate-setting meeting, the central bank's policy-making Monetary Board hiked key rates by 25 basis points, with the target reverse repurchase (RRP) rate now at 5 percent.

Meanwhile, the local currency reversed Wednesday's gains on Thursday, closing at 61.88 to the U.S. dollar, down from 61.65 the previous day. It opened the day weaker at 61.71 from the day-ago's 61.63, and traded between 61.68 and 61.89. The average for the day stood at 61.76. Volume declined to USD1.79 billion from the previous session's USD1.9 billion.