Aquino opens trading day at Philippine Stock Exchange

Philippine trading began on a jubilant atmosphere on Tuesday morning after the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), the barometer of the country's economic health, hit a historic high of 5,030.80 points at the close of trading hours on Monday.

 

No less than President Benigno S. Aquino III spearheaded this historic and joyous occasion by ringing the bell at the trading floor of the PSE in Ayala Avenue, Makati City to formally open the stock market's business day.

 

The President was joined in expressing the nation's exuberance during the historic event by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, PSE chairman Jose Pardo and PSE director Eusebio Tanco.

 

In his welcome remarks, Pardo said this robust performance of the PSEi was a direct result of the optimism the country’s investors see and feel about the Philippines under President Aquino's administration.

 

“This historic rise of the index is a strong testament to the growing investor interest in the Philippines, the continued strengthening of our macro-economic fundamentals, positive outlook on the growth of our listed companies and more importantly, confidence in the administration's good governance drive, among others, have been catching the attention of investors in both local and global markets,” Pardo said.

 

He added that since President Aquino took over the reigns of government in 2010, the PSEi's historic rise “marks the 11th time this year and the 19th time under the present administration that the index has set new highs.”

 

“Since the first day of the President's administration or in a matter of only 20 months, this index has already climbed by 52 percent,” Pardo stressed.

 

He vowed to work towards inviting more investors to invest in the Philippines in order to improve the index's performance to breach the 6,000 point mark.

 

“Moving past the 5,000 (mark) signals the beginning of our journey to what I understand, Mr. President, was your requested commitment from our (PSE) Director (Eusebio) Eusi Tanco for the index to breach, not the 5,000 (mark) but the 6,000 level,” Pardo said.