The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has raised P185 billion in capital as of early July, surpassing its full-year target of P170 billion and far exceeding the P82.4 billion raised in the same period in 2024.

“I had, at the beginning of the year, projected six public offerings and a capital raising target of P120 billion, which is 150 percent more than the previous year’s P80 billion,” PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said at a media briefing following the operator’s annual stockholders meeting on Saturday. 

“Well, I’m glad to report, I think we’ll be hitting at least P180 billion in capital raising this year — and hopefully more, if there are more applications we receive in the third and fourth quarter.”

Monzon said that as of last Friday, the capital raised through the local bourse had already reached P185 billion.

Of the total, P62.6 billion was raised in the first half of the year. Based on applications received to date, the PSE expects an additional P123.7 billion to be raised in the second half. 

Monzon said these include two initial public offerings, two follow-on offerings, one stock rights offering, and one listing of convertible warrants.

More active bourse

Despite prevailing economic headwinds, Monzon said the PSE remains optimistic that more capital-raising activities could materialize before the end of the year.

The Philippine stock market posted gains and showed technical progress last week, but rising global trade tensions have started to dampen investor sentiment.

“The last two trading days showed that tariff threats present downside risks to the bourse,” said Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc., over the weekend.

Despite this, the local market remains undervalued based on fundamentals. It closed the week with a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.6 times, below its five-year average of 17.3 times and the regional average of 16.6 times.

Tantiangco said investor sentiment may continue to be weighed down by the US’ proposed 20 percent tariffs on Philippine goods. 

“Signs of progress [in trade talks] may help lift the local market. But lack of positive trade talk developments may pull the market lower,” he said.

He added that investors may also monitor the upcoming overseas Filipino cash remittance data for cues on the domestic economy.

From a technical perspective, the market is trading above its 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) — a bullish signal. 

“How the market defends its position above the 200-day EMA could play a significant factor in what its direction is going to be moving forward,” Tantiangco said.

Key support is pegged at 6,400, while resistance is seen at 6,600.