Net foreign selling of RP stocks at P13.3B year to date

As i read the news last friday, more than P13.3 billion in foreign funds has exited the stock market as of February 27, as investors, cowed by the weakening US economy, decided to stay out of the local bourse.
In a presentation, Francis Lim, PSE president and chief executive officer, said that as of February 27, 2008, the bourse suffered net foreign selling amounting to P13.3 billion.
Earlier, the PSE said it suffered the worst net foreign selling in January when it reached P11.59 billion, surpassing the P9.4-billion net foreign selling recorded in October 2003.
He warned that if the trend continued, the PSE will lose in six months all the net foreign buying that the stock market piled up in 2007.
However, analysts remain optimistic that the stock market will weather the US economy's weakness, and even political tension in the local front.
“The market and the economy will withstand all the political problems that we have," said Roberto Juanchito Dispo, executive vice president of First Metro Investments Corp.As of February 27, the 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index was down 14 percent from its 2007 closing level, with the property index suffering the worst with a 21-percent decline.
Comparing the two-month period of the year from the January-February period in 2007, total capital raised through initial public offerings and follow-on offerings were down to P9.7 billion from P16.7 billion. - source: GMANews