MANILA – Both the local main stocks gauge and the peso ended on positive notes Monday partly on the signing into law of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.97 percent, or 63.15 points, to 6,607.78 points.
All Shares went up by 0.51 percent, or 20.30 points, to 3,988.09 points.
Most of the sectoral indexes also rose during the day, led by the Property after it jumped by 2.21 percent.
It was trailed by the Financials, 1.36 percent; Holding Firms, 0.58 percent; and Services, 0.33 percent.
On the other hand, Mining and Oil fell by 0.50 percent and Industrial by 0.29 percent.
Volume totaled 2.88 billion shares amounting to PHP7.27 billion.
Losers led gainers at 116 to 97, while 44 shares were unchanged.
“Shares continued to rally as investors and business groups welcomed the signing of the much-awaited CREATE into law, noting the reduction in CIT (corporate income tax) rate would support recovery,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corporation head of sales.
Republic Act 11534, otherwise known as the CREATE Act, was signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on March 26, 2021, a day before the measure would have lapsed into law.
It reduces CIT from 30 percent to 20 percent for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) or for those with taxable income of PHP5 million and below, and to 25 percent for other corporates.
It also rationalizes fiscal incentives given to investors, which is aimed to attract more investors into the country.
Duterte, however, vetoed some of the law’s provisions and these include the hike in the threshold of housing exemption from the value added tax (VAT), the President’s authority to exempt an investment promotion agency from the coverage of the law, and the move to limit the Fiscal Incentives Review Board’s (FIRB) power to grant tax incentives to projects that have total investment capital amounting to PHP1 billion.
Meanwhile, the local currency finished the day at 48.415, sideways from 48.49 close Friday last week.
It opened the session at 48.47 and traded between 48.51 and 48.415.
Average level for the day stood at 48.475.
Volume totaled to USD576.4 million, lower than the previous trading’s USD740.8 million. (PNA)
