After a series of record-setting performances, the Philippine Stock Exchange index ended lower on Wednesday.

The index finished 66 points lower to 8,431.73 after falling by as much as 162.70 points one hour before training closed at 3:30 pm.

In the broader market, there were 138 decliners, 72 gainers and 35 issues unchanged.

Volume reached 1.35 billion shares valued at P9.262 billion. Foreigners were net sellers, with P5.42 billion worth of stocks sold compared to P4.77 billion bought.

Among most active shares were Semirara Mining and Power Corp, down 4.02 percent to P 41.75, PXP Energy Corp., down 5.14 percent to P8.68 and Ayala Corp., down 2.01 percent to P1,070.

The peso closed at P51. 405 against the US dollar from Tuesday's P51.33. Volume at the Philippine Dealing System reached $497.60 million from $893.20 million the previous day. DMS