Stock index breaches 8,000 mark on hopes of tax reform passage

The local stock barometer rallied to the 8,000 mark yesterday, hitting a new high for the year, on hopes for the passage of the Philippine tax reform law.

Climbing for the third straight session, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 65.79 points or 0.83 percent to close at an 11-month high of 8,037.51.

Across the region, stock markets were mostly higher as commodity prices surged ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy statement.

As the Philippine Congress has resumed its session, investors are now anticipating the passage of the tax reform law, according to Eagle Equities president Joseph Roxas.

At the same time, he said the selloff by investors raising funds to subscribe to the initial public offering of Chelsea Logistics might have abated, Roxas said.

The PSEi was led higher by the mining/oil and property counters, which both surged by more than 1 percent. Only the industrial counter ended in the red.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.17 billion. There were 98 advancers that edged out 94 decliners while 60 stocks were unchanged.

The market was also buoyed by net foreign buying worth P693.26 million.

Property developer Megaworld led the day’s upswing, rising by 5.51 percent, while conglomerate LT Group also rose by 3.28 percent.

Ayala Land, SM Prime, Ayala Corp., GT Capital, JG Summit, ICTSI, DMCI and Semirara all firmed up by more than 1 percent while Metrobank, PLDT, Metro Pacific and Meralco all gained.

Outside the PSEi, notable gainers included Philex Petroleum, which surged by 18.54 percent after President Duterte spoke about joint exploration with China at the disputed territory off the West Philippine Sea.

Petroenergy (+11.62 percent), Forum Pacific (+10.87 percent) and Philodrill (+8.33 percent) also gained.