Philippine Stocks Trounce Regional Peers in Marcos’ First Year

The Philippine stock benchmark has outperformed its developing Southeast Asian peers since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in June 2022, with gains of 5.6% as of last close, in contrast to losses elsewhere. The gauge extended advances of as much as 0.7% Thursday. Stocks also performed better than the 0.6% gain seen in the first year of predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, as Marcos’ selection of a well respected economics team helped steer a faster-than-expected economic growth.

(Bloomberg) — The Philippine stock benchmark has outperformed its developing Southeast Asian peers since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in June 2022, with gains of 5.6% as of last close, in contrast to losses elsewhere. The gauge extended advances of as much as 0.7% Thursday. Stocks also performed better than the 0.6% gain seen in the first year of predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, as Marcos’ selection of a well respected economics team helped steer a faster-than-expected economic growth.

A focus on bringing down inflation and interest rates as well as ramping up investments in infrastructure will help sustain equity gains for the duration of Marcos’ six-year term, said Fritz Ocampo, chief investment officer at BDO Unibank Inc. 

The gains are still far behind the first-year performances under Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III, when the tail-end of the Asian Financial Crisis and periods of elevated growth allowed outsized returns.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.