PH stocks led Asian bourses in first half

 

The Philippine Stock Exchange index was the top performing market in Asia in the first half of the year, rising by more than a fifth to finish at 5,246 points from 4,291.21 a year ago.


The local bourse on July 5 bested its previous record high to close at a new all-time high at 5,369.98 and became the top performing market in the region with a gain of 22.7 percent year-to-date, beating bourses in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India and China.


“Just like our main index, investor confidence in Philippines Inc. is at an all-time high. What’s remarkable is that we have been able to achieve unprecedented growth even in the midst of ongoing uncertainties in the Western hemisphere and a cooling Chinese economy,” Hans Sicat, PSE president and chief executive, said in a statement.


“This is a testament to the effectiveness of the reforms that the country has undertaken, which further contributed to the stable macroeconomic environment,” he said.


The combined market capitalization of listed issues in the PSE at end-June reached P10.05 trillion, up 12.8 percent from P8.91 trillion last year.


Total value turnover rose 43.2 percent to P947.73 billion in the first half from P661.81 billion in the same period the previous year. Average daily value turnover stood at P7.64 billion, up 45.5 percent year-on-year.


Preliminary figures also showed that foreign investors were net buyers of Philippine-listed stocks in the amount of P71.12 billion, up 382 percent from P14.75 billion year-on-year.


All indices were on the green with the financials index emerging as the best performer in the first half, after surging 34.6 percent to the 1,304.42 points.


It was followed by the property index, which grew by 30.1 percent to finish at 1,927.48. The holding firms index rose 28 percent to 4,488.80. The industrial index climbed 10.8 percent to finish at 7,839.57 in the first half. The services index inched up 8.8 percent to 1,759.02 while mining and oil increased 4.8 percent to 24,629.48 points.-Manila Standard Today (July 11, 2012)