Investors looking for news on tax reforms

STOCK market investors will likely take their cues this week from news about the government’s proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Act, analysts said.

“The US Fed’s rate hike plan has been factored in and regional central banks are bound to follow suit. Given the expected return in equities, majority are bound to underscore the implementation of the tax reform plan to aid in boosting growth,” online broker

The government is hoping that the Train bill, along with next year’s national budget, will be approved by Congress next month before it goes on a holiday break.

Revenues from the tax reform proposal will be used for the government’s ambitious “Build Build Build” infrastructure program.

terms of capital expenditures for 2018 will also be noted by inves- tors, 2TradeAsia said.

“This early, participants anticipate a bandwagon relative to aggressive expansion directives for 2018, as the Duterte administration’s ‘Build Build Build’ sends [a] positive ripple among listed

“Fund- raising initiatives and potential equity calls will also run high on next year’s list and portfolio investors are sure to ramp up their preparedness for the exercise,” it added.

Eagle Equities, Inc. research head Chris Mangun, meanwhile, said investors were still on the sidelines “as I am seeing very minimal buying pressure.”

“Next resistance is at 8,400 but if we don’t see volume pick up, we may see it come all the way down and test support at 8,200 … [This coming] week is a crucial week for the market as it will determine which direction the market is going to be by the end of the year,” Mangun said.

On Friday, the bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index added 0.26 percent or 21.88 points to close at 8,365.11. The broader All Shares grew 0.12 percent or 5.75 points to finish