The stock market fell below the 6,800 level yesterday as investors continued to engage in profit taking following its recent rally.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 74.62 points or 1.09 percent to 6,798.61, extending its losing streak to two after last Friday's decline.

The broader All Shares index likewise settled in the red, losing 35.06 points or 0.97 percent.

'The local bourse declined as investors extended their profit taking after the market rallied for four straight weeks,' Claire Alviar of Philstocks Financial said.

'The negative cues from the US markets last Friday, amid the rise in the US' January producers price index, weighed further on the sentiment,' she said.

Alviar said net market value turnover, which stood at P3.9 billion, was weaker than this month's average so far of P4.69 billion.

All local counters were in the red, with four of the six gauges plunging by more than one percent.

Property and industrial were the biggest losers, declining by 1.71 percent and 1.52 percent, respectively.

Market breadth was negative as decliners crushed advancers, 134 to 59, while 49 issues were unchanged.

Only two stocks among index members were able to post gains-Bank of the Philippine Islands with a 1.48 percent increase and Century Pacific Food Inc. with a 0.98 percent increase.

Alliance Global Group Inc., meanwhile, was at the bottom as it lost 5.07 percent.

'The key economic data releases in the US this week are the jobless claims report on Thursday and the existing home sales report on Friday. Meanwhile, a quiet week ahead of us here in the Philippines with only the balance of payments for January scheduled to be released this week,' Reginal Capital's Luis Limlingan said.

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