简体中文
Less than a month after Fitch Ratings gave the Philippines the much-awaited investment grade, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Monday breached the critical 7,000 level for the first time in the history of the local bourse.
The PSE index actually closed at a new all-time high of 7,120. 48 points, gaining 163.38 points or 2.4 percent. This was way above the record close posted on April 19 at 6,957.10.
An ecstatic PSE president and CEO Hans Sicat said that the PSEi ' s breaking past the 7,000 level was another historic milestone that could only indicate "positive signals globally as well as healthy financials of listed companies."
The PSE is the country's only stock exchange with 254 listed firms and 134 active trading participants.
In an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), a top television network here, PJ Garcia, senior vice president at BPI Asset Management, admitted he was surprised that the market breached the 7,000 level this fast.
"I'm really surprised by the resilience and strength of the market. On the other hand, we're also expecting this. It just happened sooner than we were expecting it to hit 7,000," the ANC quoted Garcia as saying.
Garcia said that the market "is getting a bit ahead of itself, in terms of price, it has gone up ahead of earnings... I think they're anticipating more earnings surprises at least for the banking sector."
Malacanang, the seat of the Philippine government, was quick to attribute the PSE's new record to the sound economic policies of the administration of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.
According to Edwin Lacierda, presidential spokesman, with this latest surge, the PSE index has now set a record high for the 27th time this year and 88th record high in 34 months of the present administration.
"This stands as a manifestation of continued confidence in the prospects of our economy, not only from the international community, but also from Filipinos who are raising their stake in our country's success," Lacierda said in a statement.
Lacierda assured the nation that the Aquino administration would work hard to sustain and accelerate the progress, noting that the PSEi was just one among the many indicators of a resurgent Philippines.
"The government continues to focus its efforts on ensuring that the economic revitalization embodied by the PSEi numbers impacts the widest possible segment of society," he said.
On March 27, the Philippines achieved its first-ever investment grade rating after international debt watcher Fitch raised the country's rating to BBB- from BB+.
Fitch Ratings -- the first of the three major international debt watchers to upgrade the Philippines -- also assigned a stable outlook for the country's credit rating.
The U.S. rating agency noted the economy's 6.6 percent economic growth for 2012 and the expected 5.5 percent growth for this year, both of which are "stronger and less volatile" that BBB-rated peers over the last five years.
Some stock traders said expectations that a second global credit rating firm may issue an investment upgrade on the Philippine sovereign as early as May also excited investors.
Ironically, inflow of portfolio investments or hot money to the Philippines slumped in March, recording a net outflow of 395.14 million U.S. dollars.
As reported earlier by Xinhua, quoting the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country's central bank, it was the first net outflow since June last year, when a net outflow of 7.69 million U. S. dollars was registered.
The figure for March also was in contrast to the 183.74 million U.S. dollars recorded the same period last year.
But for the first quarter of this year, foreign portfolio placements still surged by more than 134 percent to 1.09 billion U. S. dollars, up from 464.45 million U.S. dollars a year ago.
The BSP has forecast a 3 billion U.S.-dollar net inflow this year.
It said the Philippines remained to be a favorite destination for portfolio investments, especially after Fitch Ratings upgraded the country to investment grade.
Meanwhile in its latest forecast, Fitch Ratings said the Philippines and other emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific were likely to remain the most resilient to global economic weaknesses among the regions in the world until 2014 because of robust domestic consumption and investment activities within their economies.
