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NET
foreign investment in the stock market rose 86.2 percent
to P46.56 billion during the first five months of the
year, from 25.01 billion a year earlier, the Philippine
Stock Exchange (PSE) said over the weekend.
Known as
net foreign buying, the measure shows the difference
between how much foreign investors bought and how much
they sold in a given period.
“The
build-up of foreign investments is fuelling the market’s
record-breaking run, said PSE president Francis Lim. “I
am optimistic we can sustain the interest of foreign
investors, as long as the country’s economic foundations
remain solid and our political leaders will maintain
their sense of maturity and sobriety.”
According to numbers released by the exchange, foreign
buying almost doubled to P280.31 billion from P141.2
billion in the same comparable. Foreign selling expanded
101.3 percent and reached P233.75 billion from P116.14
billion..
The
increase in foreign transactions coincided with the
market’s record-breaking run last month. The PSE index
reached new highs on May 18, 2007, closing at 3,449.18
points and breaching the previous record of 3,447.60 on
February 3, 1997. The index closed at 3,474.67 on May
31, 2007 or 16.5- percent higher than its level of
2,982.54 at the end of 2006. Last Friday, the PSEi
closed again at a new record high of 3,671.29 points.
See RP Stocks, B2.
As of
May 31, Lim said total market capitalization hit P8
trillion, or 11.6 percent higher than P7.17 trillion at
the end of 2006.
The
market capitalization of listed domestic companies also
reached P4.1 trillion or 22.4-percent higher than P3.35
trillion at the end of 2006. Last month was a landmark
period for domestic companies, as their market
capitalization hit the P4 trillion for the first time.
Meanwhile, total value turnover from January to May
reached P499.78 billion or 134.1-percent more than the
P213.45 billion a year earlier.
Average
daily value turnover also grew 138.9 percent to P4.85
billion from P2.03 billion during the same comparable
period.
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