Foreign investors have sold a total of P27 billion worth of stocks since the start of the year but the number has started to reverse, with net buying swelling to P807 million on Sept. 25-30 as investors seek safe havens to escape volatile US markets, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said.

PSE president Francis Lim said he saw a reversal of the trend on Tuesday even as Wall Street crashed 778 points after the US House of Representatives rejected a $700-billion financial bailout plan for ailing US financial institutions so as to avert a US recession.

Data from stock quotation reports posted on the PSE website show net foreign buying in the Sept. 25-30 period peaked on Sept. 26 at P505.8 million, ahead of political wrangling that heightened uncertainty over bailout talks between US lawmakers and the Bush administration.

Vivian Yuchengco, president and principal owner of The First Resources Management & Securities Corp., said foreign investors “have to look for safer havens. Asia is the strongest area.”

Foreign selling was heavy in the early part of this year as global markets faced the collapse of major financial institutions because of the US subprime mortgage crisis. Edited by INQUIRER.net