The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

Outside the blunt rhetorics of Presi­dent Duterte about targeting both drug addicts and traffickers in his determined campaign against narcotics, the National Eco­nomic and Development Authority (Neda) had told a United Nations (UN) com­mittee that his administration is actually investing heavily on the rehabilitation of ille­gal-drug dependents.

By Riza Lozada Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc. (LIB) shares have stopped trading at the bourse following the firm’s voluntary delisting as a result of the P70-billion megadeal involving Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications Inc. (PLDT), Globe Telecoms and San Mi­guel Corp. (SMC) in which assets of LIB, which is a unit of SMC, were in­volved.

Listed Benguet Corp., the oldest mining firm in the country said the minor and intermit­tent mine tailings leak in An­tamok, Benguet has been put under control.

By Riza Lozada The inflation rate in October 2016 remained at 2.6 percent, the same pace as in September, and is within the outlook of of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipina (BSP) in the near term.

An official of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has won the 2016 Outstanding Social Worker of the Philippines award in the field of Health and Medical Services.

The country’s strong mac­roeconomic fundamentals along with the high liquid­ity system in the economy and improvement of asset quality continue to back the country’s banking system, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Local industries are ex­pected to benefit from the Japan-Philippines Industrial Coopera­tion Initiative forged by the trade and industry depart­ments of Manila and Tokyo.

By Riza Lozada The price of freshly-listed Pil­ipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. shares closed strong on Friday, rising P2.50 to P69.50 each from its initial public offer (IPO) debut of P67 despite the market being at an oversold level.

Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF), through unit Centu­ry Pacific Seacrest Inc., recent­ly acquired the license to the Kamayan trademark for North America.

AboitizLand, the property de­veloper unit of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV), plans to un­dertake five housing projects next year worth about P4 bil­lion located outside Metro Manila, riding on the growth of residential property market.