Philippine \'hot money\' outflow hits $1.84 bln in January

Philippine foreign portfolio investments, or "hot money", recorded a net outflow of 1.84 billion U.S. dollars in January, the local central bank said Thursday. The Philippine central bank said this is due to investors' " bearish view" on emerging markets as the U.S. started the tapering of its stimulus program last month. Data from the local central bank showed that foreign portfolio investments reached 1.84 billion U.S. dollars in January, from a net inflow of 1.27 billion U.S. dollars a year ago. The central bank said gross inflows declined by 55 percent to 1. 27 billion U.S. dollars while gross outflows jumped by 103 percent to 3.12 billion U.S. dollars. Investments in January were mainly in shares of stock listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange and peso-denominated government debt papers. Investments in the stock market benefited banks, holding firms, property companies, telecommunication firms and food, beverage and tobacco firms. The U.S., the United Kingdom, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Belgium were the top five investor countries during the period..