MANILA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine stock market succumbed to profit takers on Friday.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.95 percent or 76.95 points to 8,025.35, while the broader all-share index slipped by 0.71 percent or 34.11 points to 4,794.03.
Trading volume reached 975.60 million shares worth 7.75 billion Philippine pesos (164.32 million U.S. dollars) with 113 stocks advancing, 95 declining, and 43 were unchanged.
Of the six counters, only the mining and oil sector bucked the trend.
"The local market took a breather today after registering its highest level for the year," online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said.
The local equities has been closing at record highs the past days and this prompted some investors to take the opportunity to bag gains.
2TradeAsia.com said players will now focus on companies' first half earnings results, with some of the big companies due for release next week.
Also, investors are likely to factor-in their expectations on pronouncements that Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte will make in his State-of-the-Nation Address on 25 June.
Stocks in the 30-company index were mostly sold down. These include Ayala Corp., SM Prime Holdings, Inc., and index heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
