A Krungsri Securities stock analyst expected the index to rise to 1,290 before falling as crude oil price rose by 9 per cent to US$27 per barrel after US oil storage dropped by 700,000 barrels.

“The International Energy Agency expected oil storage worldwide to drop by approximately 5.5 million barrels per day during the second half of this year,” the stock analyst said.

The analyst added that the index also gained positive sentiment from hopes of the second phase of lockdown easing during this week.

“However, the index would be under pressure as investors were selling stocks due to the decline in the first quarter performance of corporates and uncertainty over the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak,” the stock analyst said.

The analyst recommended investors to buy stocks as follows:

● Energy stocks, such as PTT, PTTEP, TOP, PTTGC, and SPRC, due to rising crude oil price.

● Retail stocks, such as CRC, CPN, HMPRO, GLOBAL, COM7, and DOHOME, due to the likely easing of more lockdown measures.

● Stocks calculated in the MSCI Thailand Index were AWC, BAM, and KTC.