The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

Local traders shrugged off the United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union (EU), saying it would not have any significant impact on the country as long as the vote doesn’t affect the United States.

Bond yields in most emerging East Asian markets continued to track lower from March 1 to May 15, except for the Philippines and China, as investors factored in forecasts of continued slow growth for the global economy, Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) latest Asia Bond Monitor said.

Any change in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) policy rates is expected to happen only in the first half of 2017, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ), the fourth largest bank by market capitalization in Australia, said after the BSP kept monetary policy settings unchanged last week. 

The Department of Trade and Industry’s Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (DTI-FTEB) strengthened its enforcement activities for construction materials last week and inspected 50 hardware stores in cities of Quezon, Caloocan, Parañaque, and Muntinlupa. 

Capping the National Housing and Urban Development Summit, heads of national government agencies, non-governmental organizations, civil-society groups, people’s organizations and other stakeholders signed the Unity Statement on upholding the right to adequate, decent and affordable housing. 

Hundreds of thousands of Ilocano students are now utilizing 708 new school buildings completed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). 

The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) has given its go-signal for Cemex Holdings Philippines, Inc. to conduct an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The cement producer will be offering 2.03 billion shares at a maximum price of P17. 

A Philippine-South Korean cooperation project will put up a P450-million training center in Banban, Ayungon. 

As part of its preparations for the onset of La Niña, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) inaugurated two rehabilitated floodwater pumping stations in Taguig City. 

The Suzuki Celerio, one of Suzuki Philippines’s (SPH) best-selling cars, clinched the top spot for fuel efficiency in the gasoline-engine category at the first Euro 4 Fuel Economy Run organized by the Department of Energy (DOE) in partnership with Petron Corp.