PSE to link up with other Exchanges

By Honey Madrilejos-Reyes

Reporter

CEBU City—The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will pursue active cooperation with the various bourses in the region to raise its competitiveness, especially now that the "bull cycle" is in effect. At the sidelines of the 12th Annual Asia Securities Forum hosted by the country in Shangri-La Hotel Mactan, PSE president Francis Lim emphasized the need for the local  bourse to learn from the experiences done and still being implemented by its counterparts in neighboring countries. "We want to market the Philippines together with the other Asian exchanges. We want to learn from them on how to introduce new products and how they progress their information technology (IT) to become more competitive," Lim told the BusinessMirror.  While the bull cycle has generally increased the performances of the various bourses in the region, value turnover at PSE is still low relative to its other counterparts. But Nestor S. Aguila, president of the Philippine Association of Securities Brokers and Dealers, Inc. (PASBDI), is convinced that the cycle is still young and the local bourse still has the ample time to take advantage of it. "Liquidity will be with us until 2008 at least on the back of various factors,  namely, the downward trend for interest rates, the stabilizing oil prices, a balanced budget by 2010, given the tax revenues and the continued positive forecast on corporate earnings," he said. Apart from those factors, he said the PSE is also seriously implementing efforts to further develop the market. "The PSE has improved the benchmark, for one. A free-float weighted PSEi was unveiled in April 2006 and is reviewed and adjusted every six months," Aguila said. He likewise highlighted the bourse's acquisition of a surveillance system called Advanced Warning Control System (Awac) to help ensure the integrity of stock trading. "There is also the continuing investor education wherein seminars, workshops, orientations, symposia and tours are being held to help inform the general public," he said. The rules for the Securities Borrowing and Lending (SBL) program are also being finalized for implementation within this year. The SBL, which allows the trade of borrowed stocks, is seen to invigorate the market while minimizing the risk of a failed trade. As of end-January this year, the stock market activity enjoyed brisk business as total turnover went up to P86.35 billion, or 265.86 percent higher than the year-ago level of P23.60 billion. Average daily value turnover in January expanded 265.86 percent to P3.93 billion from P1.07 billion a year earlier. Total market capitalization of all listed issues as of January 31 increased 24.18 percent to P7.44 trillion from P5.99 trillion in January 2006. The market capitalization of listed domestic companies hit P3.66 trillion, or 65.02 percent higher than the P2.22 trillion recorded at the end of January 2006. Stock prices went up by 8.61 percent, or to 3,239.27 points, during the first month of the year from 2,982.54 at the end of 2006.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/03122007/headlines02.html