MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index closed below the 7,000 mark yesterday, paring gains booked earlier in the day when investors attempted to hunt for bargains.

The PSEi plunged by 76.32 points, or 1.08 percent, to finish at 6,986.86 while the broader All Shares lost 35.65 points or 0.82 percent to end at 4,311.41.

The sectoral indices were a mixed bag with the mining, and oil leading gainers, followed by the industrial and services sector. The holding firms gauge was down, as well as the property index.

Total value turnover amounted to P6.115 billion. Market breadth was negative as decliners outpaced gainers, 101 to 80, while 59 issues were unchanged.

Yesterday’s close was not expected considering that the market opened with a 2.5 percent gain.

Traders said a number of blue chips dragged the index including JG Summit, which declined 5.5 percent, Ayala Land Inc. which lost 3.3 percent and Ayala Corp. which shed 1.2 percent.

Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital, said negative sentiment continued to prevail yesterday.

“The same sentiment continued to start the last trading day of the week even though the market was up more than 170 points, it still managed to end in the red,” Limlingan said.