The NSO said in a press release that this increase was driven by expansion in ten major sectors; namely, transportation equipment (28.5%), foot wear and wearing apparel (27.7%), machinery except electrical (27.4%), wood and wooden products (21.4%), basic metals (18.8%), electrical machinery (15.7%), food manufacturing (14.3%) and chemical products (11.1%).
In other market news, for the month of September, the total amount of remittances sent home by Filipinos working abroad increased at a slower pace of 5.9% year-on-year to US$1.84 billion, as compared to the 7.6% year-on-year increase observed last August. The slowdown was attributed to the cooling global economy, which weakened demand for labor. For the year, the BSP has forecasted that the remittances would expand by 5%.
Local government securities traded sideways today amid the lack of any significant market leads. However, buying interest was observed in the belly as off-shore buying occurred. On average, yields remained unchanged, though the belly and long ends of the curve lost 2.1 and 2.0 basis points, respectively, while the short end of the curve gained 4.2 basis points.
The Philippine peso fell to its lowest level in a month as investors speculated that dollar purchases made by companies increased in order to meet higher prices of crude-oil imports. A slower pace of remittance growth for the month of September further pulled down investor sentiment. The local currency lost 14 centavos to close the day at 41.260.