Foreign investors slowly returning to buying

MANILA, Philippines — Foreign investors are slowly returning to the Philippine stock market, but the numbers are still down even compared to last year when  the country went into lockdown due to COVID-19.

Foreign buying in the stock market has amounted to P286.63 billion so far this year,  down 15.14 percent compared to the P337.76 billion recorded a  year ago, latest data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed.

On the other hand, year-to-date foreign selling reached P354.14 billion,  9.96 percent lower than the previous year.

This translates to a net foreign selling of P67.52 billion, still higher than the P55.5 billion posted a year ago, according to PSE data.

While foreign buying activities in the market have yet to match year-ago levels, Rizal Commmercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said  there has been notable increases in foreign buying in the local stock market over the past two weeks.”

Ricafort said foreign investors have welcomed additional measures to further re-open the economy, the arrival of more COVID-19 vaccines and the improving foreign direct investments.

Japhet Tantiangco, an analyst at PhilStocks Financial Inc., said the market’s recent rally could likewise be attributed to the progress of the Bayanihan to Arise as One (Bayanihan 3) Bill at the House of Representatives.

“I believe investors are more focused now on the immediate outlook of the Philippine economy, in particular, how our economy can recover while our vaccination program is not yet covering a significant portion of the population. Fiscal stimulus measures like the Bayanihan 3 are appreciated as they can help the economy while it goes through tough times,” he said.