Philippine portfolio funds, also known as 'hot' or speculative money, reached 2.5 billion U.S. dollars during the January to October period, or nearly seven times more than the 358.3 million U.S. dollars that came in during the same period last year. Data issued by the Philippine central bank Thursday showed the continued flow of capital from developed economies in Europe and the United States into emerging markets like the Philippines. In October alone, 'hot' money flowed inward on a net basis to 1. 04 billion U.S. dollars or eight times more than last year's 129. 16 million U.S. dollars inflows. The registered portfolio investments during the period, or the gross portfolio inflows, totaled 8.91 billion U.S. dollars, more than 70 percent of which found their way into the Philippine Stock Exchange. These stock purchases benefited property companies and banks which each received 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, the telecommunications sector which received another 1.1 billion U.S. dollars as well as the utility firms which were recipients of 683 million U.S. dollars worth of 'hot' money. Most of the portfolio investments came from the U.S., UK, Singapore, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. 