The Philippines’ main stock index ended lower while the peso ended flat against the US dollar on Friday.

The peso ended at P50.66 from Thursday’s P 50.651. Volume at the foreign exchange portal of the Bankers Association of the Philippines reached $1.152 billion from $1.582 billion on the previous day.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index settled at 7,776.77 points, down 20.87 points. In the broader market, there were 101 gainers, 89 losers and 47 unchanged.

Volume reached 1.11 billion shares worth P6.8 billion from Thursday’s 843.96 million valued at P5.56 billion.

Most active shares were led by SM Investment Corp., up P7.00 to P1,079; SM Prime, unchanged at P42; Ayala Land, down 65 centavos to P44.35 and GT Capital, down P24 to P795. DMS

Foreign direct investments (FDI) net inflows grew by 33.7 percent to $672 million in October 2019 from the $502 million recorded during the same period in 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ( BSP) said Friday.

This was mainly on account of the expansion in non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments issued by local affiliates (intercompany borrowings) by 60 percent to $534 million (from $334 million in 2018).

Meanwhile, net inflows of equity capital slowed down to $58 million (from $98 million in October 2018), following the decline in equity capital placements (to $80 million from $112 million) coupled with the increase in withdrawals (to $22 million from $14 million).

Equity capital infusions during the month came mostly from the United States, South Korea, and Japan. Placements during the period were invested largely in 1) real estate, 2) financial and insurance, and 3) manufacturing industries. Reinvestment of earnings amounted to $79 million, 12.7 percent higher than the $71 million recorded in October 2018.

For the period January-October 2019, FDI net inflows reached $5.8 billion. This, however, was lower by 32.8 percent from the $8.6 billion posted in the same period in 2018.

The lower FDI net inflows reflect subdued investor sentiment due to the continued sluggish global economic activity.

Net investments in debt instruments decreased by 27.3 percent to $4.3 billion from the $5.9 billion during the same period in 2018.

Likewise, net equity capital investments dropped by 65.4 percent as placements fell by 44.9 percent to $1.3 billion and withdrawals rose by 58.8 percent to $629 million.

The top country sources of equity capital placements during the period were Japan, the United States, Singapore, China, and South Korea.

These were channeled mainly to 1) financial and insurance, 2) real estate, and 3) manufacturing industries. Reinvestment of earnings rose by 12.5 percent to $825 million during the period. DMS