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.