Philippine net portfolio outflows slower in April

MANILA, May 15 (Reuters) - The Philippines' foreign portfolio investments in April showed a net outflow of $49.9 million, much slower than the net outflow of nearly $198 million in March but a reversal of a year-ago net inflow, central bank data showed on Thursday.

Continuing risk aversion and worries that rising commodity prices may impact on corporate earnings and push up inflation and domestic interest rates kept foreign investors wary about investing in Philippine assets, the central bank said in a statement.

The April data resulted in a net outflow of $113.7 million for the first four months of the year, a reversal of the net inflow of $1.1 billion in the same period of 2007.

Southeast Asian equity markets have reflected sell-offs in world markets resulting from the global economic slowdown, with the Philippine stock market .PSI becoming the second-worst performer in the region after Ho Chi Minh.

Last year, the Philippine stock index .PSI gained around 21 percent.

Gross foreign portfolio investments in April reached $885.9 million, close to two-thirds of which went to placements in the local stock market.

But gross withdrawals amounted to $935.8 million mainly from withdrawals from peso bank deposits, accounting for 49 percent, and divestments from equities and government securities.

For the first four months of the year, the top three investor countries were the United Kingdom, Singapore and the United States. (Reporting by Rosemarie Francisco; editing by David Christian-Edwards)