Stocks suffer selloffs as TRAIN euphoria eases

The post-TRAIN rally proved to be short-lived. After rallying Thursday on the ratification of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) – which is expected to generate P130 billion in revenues – the local stock market suffered a massive selloff.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 124.02 points, or 1.46 percent, to end at 8,337.04 while the broader All Shares gauge shed 68.11 points, or 1.37 percent, to finish at 4,870.43.

The rest of the counters showed that it was indeed another red day at the stock market yesterday.

Total market turnover reached P10.725 billion. Market breadth was negative due to the massive selloff, 123 to 81 in favor of declining stocks.

Commenting on the session, Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said: Philippine Stocks were sold down, which was a reversal of the bargain hunting yesterday.

The Bangko Sentral’s decision to maintain key policy rates was expected, Limlingan said.

As expected, the central bank maintained key interest rates steady at 3.5 percent for overnight lending and 2.5 percent for deposit. The monetary board said the decision was based on its assessment on the outlook for inflation, as it has been ‘broadly unchanged.’ The latest baseline forecast remains within the range of two percent to four percent for 2018 to 2019, Limlingan said.