After rallying for four straight days, the local bourse on Thursday dropped 69.59 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 7,362.62.

Almost all sectors were in the red territory, with Financials leading the decliners down by 2.02 percent, followed by Services and Holding Firms dropping by 0.71 percent and 0.55 percent, respectively.

Mining and Oil sector was the lone gainer, up by 2.83 percent.

Universal Robina Corporation was the top index gainer, increasing by 2.16 percent to P104.20 per share. Meanwhile, the Bank of the Philippine Islands was the main laggard, down by 4 percent to P132.00.

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan linked the index decline to traders adopting a cautiously optimistic stance "amid expectations that China's recent policy measures may have stemmed its stock market slump, with hopes for additional fiscal support on the horizon."

Meanwhile, he noted that gold prices surged to an all-time high, which he said is driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East and optimism surrounding monetary easing.

Spot gold rose 1.1 percent to $2,656.38/oz.

“Oil prices also climbed, fueled by reports of new monetary stimulus from China, the world’s largest oil importer, which boosted demand outlook. Brent crude futures gained 1.24 percent, closing at $74.82/bbl,” Limlingan added.

Value turnover was P8.05 billion. Decliners edged Advancers at 99 to 97, while 57 names were unchanged.

BDO Unibank Inc. was the most actively traded stock at P791,310,562, down by 1.44 percent, followed by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. at P743,851,690, down by 0.73 percent.

The peso closed stronger at P55.88 to a dollar from P56.24 on Tuesday. It opened at 55.95, with its lowest at 55.83 and highest at 56. The weighted average was 55.906.