RP futures mart perks up

RP futures mart perks up

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines' futures market is perking up with East Asian clients helping drive up trading by 179 percent in the first quarter, the head of the government's corporate watchdog agency said.

About 60 percent of the orders placed in the Manila International Futures Exchange (MIFE) were by foreign clients from China, Hong Kong, and Singapore, said Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairwoman Rosario Lopez.

"The continued rise in futures trading is being attributed to the increasing participation of foreign investors who do business with trade affiliate members based here and in Hong Kong and Singapore," she said in a paper delivered to a recent regional conference in Beijing.

Twenty-six foreign affiliates applied for membership in MIFE last year, compared with 11 in 1992, she said.

She said commodities, topped by agricultural contracts were off to a good start in the first quarter, growing 252.7 percent over the same period last year while financial contracts had a more modest growth of 55.3 percent.