US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald J. Trump’s economic policies would likely drive Philippine stocks in 2025 after geopolitical tensions weighed on the bourse for much of 2024, according to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
“One of the investment considerations at this time is the direction of economic policies of the new US administration,” Ramon S. Monzon, president and chief executive officer at the PSE, said in a statement at the weekend. “An outcome favorable to the Philippines may help spur foreign buying and create the market condition listing applicants are waiting for.”
He said internal and external “economic and geopolitical headwinds” weighed on the market, prompting listing applications to defer their initial public offerings (IPO).
The PSE earlier said it expects companies to raise P120 billion in capital on the bourse including from six IPOs this year amid increased market activity.
The real estate investment trust company of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Prime Infrastructure Capital, Inc., Maynilad Water Services, Inc., and GCash are some of the big names said to be planning IPOs in 2025.
Mr. Trump will take his oath as US president on Jan. 20. During the campaign, he vowed to increase tariffs on European Union nations, Mexico, Canada and China.
There were three IPOs this year by OceanaGold (Philippines), Inc., Citicore Renewable Energy Corp., and NexGen Energy Corp. The bourse raised P82.37 billion in capital this year, 42% lower than in 2023.
The PSE index closed finished the year at 6,528.79, 1.2% or 78.75 points higher than its 2023 close. The PSE MidCap and PSE Dividend Yield indexes also rose 29.1% and 22.4%, respectively.
The daily average value turnover gained 0.1% to P6.1 billion. Domestic market capitalization at year-end also increased 11.2% to P14.57 trillion from a year earlier. Net foreign selling fell 5% to P23.18 billion from last year.
The service index had the biggest increase at 29.7%.
Mr. Monzon said the PSE would continue to improve stock market liquidity. It plans to launch global Philippine depositary receipts and last week, it announced its takeover of Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS) in a deal worth P2.32 billion.
The market operator said it would buy 3.87 million PDS shares at P600 each for a 61.92% stake as part of its plan to unify local capital markets. It has a 20.98% stake in PDS.
“This acquisition aims to create operational synergies by establishing a unified marketplace for fixed income and equity products, and a single platform for capital raising, among others,” he said in the statement. “We will also remain active in our IPO campaign to get more companies listed on the stock market.”
The PSE seeks to launch the depositary receipts — peso-denominated instruments that represent an economic interest, but not voting rights, in an underlying security listed in an overseas exchange — in the first quarter of 2025. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
