The Philippines is on a roll. After being given bullish growth outlooks from various institutions and getting its first investment grade from Fitch Ratings, another international credit-rating agency placed the country, on Thursday, in the investment status.
Local stocks trekked higher for the fifth straight session on Thursday as investors correctly anticipated that the Philippines would bag an investment grade rating from a second global credit watcher.
The investment grade rating on the Philippines’ long-term foreign currency credit may usher in greater inflow of “hot money” as investors seek instruments that are more secure and promise decent yields.
American banking giant Citigroup expects Standard & Poor’s to affirm Fitch’s recent Philippine sovereign investment upgrade by likewise raising the country’s credit bar.
Stocks are little changed in early trading on Wall Street. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is just below a record high.
US Justice Department officials Tuesday accused Standard & Poor’s of fraud for inflating the ratings of mortgage bonds before the 2008 crisis, costing federally insured institutions at least $5 billion in losses.
The US Justice Department plans to sue Standard & Poor’s over its rating of mortgage bonds prior to the 2008 financial crisis, S&P said Monday.
Standard and Poor’s raised its outlook on the Philippines’ credit rating to “positive” from “stable” on Thursday, boosting the prospects of a long-sought investment-grade rating as early as next year.
Standard & Poor’s cut Argentina’s credit rating by one notch Tuesday, four days after a key New York court ruling on Argentine bonds increased pressure on the government’s ability to manage its debts.
Global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s warned on Wednesday that India still faced at least a “one-in-three” risk of its credit rating being cut to junk status, despite a blitz of economic reforms.
International credit watcher Standard & Poor’s raised its growth forecast for the Philippines for 2012, even as it downgraded its outlook for other economies in Asia and the Pacific, saying the country has the capability to withstand unfavorable developments in the global economy.
The international ratings agency Standard and Poor’s slashed its 2012-2013 eurozone growth forecasts on Tuesday, and now expects a slightly stronger economic contraction this year.
