Investors on Friday booked the gains they made from the Philippine equities' strong run-up the previous day.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index retreated by 1. 32 percent or 63.51 points to 4,758.57, while the broader all- share index fell by 0.95 percent or 30.69 points to 3,210.69.

Trading volume reached 11.44 billion shares worth 8.68 billion pesos (203.23 million U.S. dollars) with 107 stocks declining, 79 advancing, and 32 unchanged.

Of the six counters, only the financial sector and the mining and oil sectors bucked the trend.

Having pierced the 4,800 mark, the local equities took a breather on Friday and corrected.

Profit taking was seen in Ayala stocks, which were among Thursday's best performing issues.

Ayala Corp. slipped by 2.06 percent, as did its property unit Ayala Land, Inc. which fell by 2 percent after rallying by more than 6 percent the previous day.

Friday's correction nevertheless had minimal impact on the weekly performance of the Philippine composite index, which ended with a weekly gain of 1.68 percent.

The Philippine equities touched a new record high of 4,822.08 on Thursday as investors remained positive on the outlook of the local economy.

Brokerage DBP-Daiwa Securities, Inc. said it expects the Philippine equities to post new highs on the back of sustained fourth quarter earnings results of local firms, which is seen to be carried over this year.

"Moreover, investors are betting that the domestic economy will be better this year due to benign inflation and muted policy rates by the central bank that could drive the domestic economy," said the brokerage.

"We've mentioned last Wednesday that the main-index is geared to traverse new highs... Although we've seen pauses along the way, the upward trend has remained evident with significant volume (and) a positive pattern as (technical indicators show that) it (has) formed a long white solid candle, a strong indication of bull market," the brokerage added.

Stocks in the 30-company index closed mixed. Alliance Global Group, Inc. extended its losses, while the Bank of the Philippine Islands were picked up.