Shares of the iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index
Fund (NYSE:
EPHE
) are up almost one percent in midday trading following a
surprising third-quarter GDP report from the Asian nation. Growth
in the Philippine economy soared 7.1 percent in the quarter,
easily surpassing second-quarter growth of six percent.
Economists expected third-quarter growth of 5.4 percent.
The GDP news is the latest in a long line of favorable
headlines that have sparked the iShares MSCI Philippines
Investable Market Index Fund to a year-to-date gain of over 41
percent, making the ETF one of the best-performing
country-specific funds this year.
Last week, the Philippine government announced it would
repurchase $1.46 billion in dollar- and
euro-denominated bonds
in an effort to pare interest expenses. The move is seen as a
significant effort by the Philippines to push for an
investment-graded credit rating.
A strong desire for an investment-grade credit rating. Earlier
this year, Standard & Poor's finally got around to raising
the country's long-term foreign currency-denominated debt to BB+
from BB, the highest rating since 2003. That rating is just one
notch below investment grade and it is the same rating S&P
has on Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy.
In May, Moody's Investors Service raised its outlook on the
Philippines to positive. Last month, the ratings agency upped its
rating on Philippine debt to Ba1, one level below investment
grade territory.
Inflows to EPHE, the lone ETF exclusively devoted to the
Philippines, indicate that investors are buying into the
country's investment thesis. In early July, the ETF had just
over $142.2 million in assets under
management
. That number was $171.5 million at the start of trading
today.
In the first nine months of 2012, the Philippine economy grew
at an average rate of 6.5 percent compared with a growth rate of
3.9 percent through the same period last year.
In a research note, HSBC praised Philippine policymakers for
taking "timely measures to counterbalance an anticipated slowdown
of demand from China and the eurozone as well as the resilient
nature of the services-oriented economy,"
The Financial Times reported
.
Currently trading at $33.32, EPHE is three cents below its
intraday high and just 10 cents below its all-time high. The ETF
has surged 14.6 percent in the past three months.
For more on the Philippines, click
here
.
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