THE Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) has recorded P122.46 billion in capital raised from the sale of primary and secondary shares during the first half of the year, exceeding the full year amount raised in 2020 of P103.76 billion.

Capital raising activities for the period included two initial public offerings (IPO), two follow-on offerings, two stock rights offerings and three private placements.

“We are pleased that companies continue to tap the equities market for their funding requirements. Capital raising activities at PSE continue to be robust and we remain optimistic that we will be able to hit our targets by the yearend. We will be conducting next month a few IPO marketing events targeted at SMEs (small and medium enterprises) to convince them to take advantage of our relaxed listing rules and the pandemic relief rule, which is in effect until next year,” said PSE president and chief executive officer Ramon Monzon.

Trading activity was also higher during the first six months of 2021 with daily average value turnover at P8.96 billion, up by 21.9 percent year-to-date and 35.9 percent year-on-year.

Foreign funds registered a net selling of P77.80 billion in the January to June period.

The PSE index closed at 6,901.91 on the last trading day of June, down by 3.3 percent year-to-date. The All Shares index dipped by 0.7 percent. Among the sectoral indices, the Services, Financials, Industrial and Mining and Oil sectors posted gains while the Holding Firms and Property sectors both ended lower.

“If the government can meet its target of vaccinating up to 70 million people by the end of the year or even get close to said target, the stock market could return to pre-pandemic levels in the near term,” Monzon said. (PR)