Foreign buying of Philippine equities up, says FMIC

First Metro Investments Corp. has expressed confidence that foreign investors would remain attracted to peso-denominated securities despite the prolonged crisis in the eurozone, citing the surge in net foreign buying of Philippine equities so far this year.

FMIC president Roberto Juanchito Dispo on Wednesday said that year-to-date net foreign buying of peso-denominated equities had reached P65 billion, surpassing the P54 billion registered in 2011.

The equities investments by foreigners were mostly in financial intermediaries and real estate, he said.

Also, Dispo said in an interview with reporters that foreign funds remained keen on investing in peso-denominated government securities and equities.

He also cited the year-to-date average trading volume for government securities in the secondary market at P30 billion a day, which he said reflected generally healthy appetite for fixed-income securities.

Moody’s Investors Service the other day revised its outlook on the triple-A credit rating of the eurozone from “stable” to “negative” given sovereign debt woes of countries in the region.

Views were mixed as far as the impact of the deterioration in the outlook for the eurozone is concerned.

Some market players expect the development in the eurozone to cause global risk aversion, thereby dragging even demand for emerging-market assets.

Dispo, however, said FMIC takes the positive view that developments in the eurozone, on a net basis, would have a positive effect on demand for peso-denominated securities.

“We expect inflows to be strong,” Dispo said.

This is due mainly to the country’s improved credit image amid its favorable growth performance.