NEWSFLASH

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PEACEFUL ELECTIONS BOOSTS STOCKS, PESO

Manila, May 28, 1998 - The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the stock and currency markets welcomed the generally peaceful presidential elections that saw former movie actor Joseph Estrada head for victory.

The peso rose nearly 3% at 38.58 to the dollar. However, Harry Liu of Summit Securities said that large investors were still adopting a wait-and-see attitude as they would want a clearer indication of the trends before investing in the stock market.

The market on May 12, day after the elections, opened strong hitting a high of 2,223.13 points before sliding in mid-session to a low of 2,176.75 and picking up strength toward the end of the trading sesison.

But investors appeared optimistic that the elections were quite peaceful and regardless of who wins they feel confident that economic policies will remain unchanged.

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