Local shares closed below the 6,000 support level Friday due to continued depreciation of the peso against the dollar.
At the end of trading, the 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index declined 165.94 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 5,988.02.
The wider all-shares index also declined by 29.47 points, or 0.81 percent, to 3,608.11.
The peso depreciated further Friday, closing at 58.625 versus the U.S. dollar from 58.61 on Thursday.
Analysts said major sectors such as financial, services and holding firms registered steep declines as investors remained cautious due to continued weakening of the local currency.
Luis Limlingan, head of sales for Regina Capital Development Corp., said market participants are likely pricing in the anticipated lower gross domestic product (GDP) projected by various financial institutions due to corruption issues in the government.
The financial index declined by 1.51 percent, with significant drops in share prices of major banks including Bank of the Philippine Islands and BDO Unibank Inc.
The share price of BPI dropped 4.3 percent to P100.60 while BDO slipped by 0.80 percent to P135.90.
Value turnover improved to P6.89 billion.
Market breadth, however, remained negative as decliners outnumbered gainers 123 to 75, while 49 stocks were unchanged.
