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Overseas news
In the US, the main indexes were mixed on Thursday. This came after the US producer price index (PPI) for final demand jumped 0.9% last month, the largest increase since June 2022.
This suggests a broad pickup in inflation is coming, and also lowers expectations of interest rate cuts.
“Producer prices” refers to the prices of products or commodities made by domestic manufacturers. These are sold at factory gate prices to wholesalers and/or other domestic consumers.
The PPI tracks changes to these producer prices over time, relative to a base period.
Local developments
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered all electronic wallets (e-wallets), banks and other supervised institutions to remove in-app gambling assets, including any links that direct users to gaming or gambling websites.
Online gambling has been a controversial topic in recent months, and discussions at different levels of government are under way to determine its future in the country.
Meanwhile, the value of foreign commitments approved by investment promotion agencies in the Philippines reached P67.38 billion in the April-to-June period. For comparison, the figure from the same period last year was P189.5 billion.
Foreign investments bring in more money to a country, and can positively impact an economy through job creation and tax generation.
Also, new vehicle sales fell by 2.6% to 38,295 units in July from 39,331 units in the same month a year ago.
A report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association (CAMPI-TMA) showed that disrupted retail operations due to recent bad weather was to blame.
Right now, there are no strong signals that things will go in a certain direction. It might be better to refrain from big decisions for the meantime while staying updated.
