Krungsri Securities forecast the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index on Thursday (December 9) would fluctuate between 1,610-1,630 points.
It said uncertainty over the Omicron Covid-19 variant has relieved after Pfizer said its third jab could deal with the virus, resulting in positive sentiment to the index.
However, it predicted that fund flow volatility due to uncertainty over US Federal Reserve’s signal it would taper its quantitative easing programme during the meeting between December 14-15, as well as mass sell-offs of shares to prevent risks during three days holiday, would pressure the index.
It also recommended buying of the following companies’ shares as an investment strategy:
▪︎ RCL, LEO, III, WICE, SONIC and JWD, which benefit from rising freight rate.
▪︎ BBL, TTB, KTB and KBANK, which benefit from news of interest rate hike.
▪︎ HMPRO, CPN, CRC, AMATA, WHA, BTS, BEM, VGI, SYNEX and COM7, which are domestic play shares.
U.S. equities rose Wednesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its biggest three-day rally in a year.
The benchmark index gained 0.3%, along with the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100, as fears over the omicron virus variant eased after Pfizer and BioNTech said early lab studies showed a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine neutralizes the variant.
“Risk assets are recovering this week after a bout of turbulence sparked by the emergence of the new virus variant,” said Art Hogan, chief markets strategist at National Securities. “Early studies showed vaccines provide a partial shield against the new variant. So far, omicron cases haven’t overwhelmed hospitals and vaccine developments are encouraging.”
Travel shares gained with airlines including American, Delta and United higher. However, losses in consumer staples and financials weighed on the market as technology shares struggled for direction.
Wall Street analysts expect the market to remain volatile until there is more clarity on the omicron variant’s threat to the economy, which if low, should allow the market’s focus to return to the Federal Reserve.
“If omicron concerns continue to fade, attention will shift back to the Fed and the outlook for growth,” Dennis DeBusschere of 22V Research wrote in a note to clients.
“We’re really in a new regime here,” Alicia Levine, head of equities and capital markets advisory at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, said of the Fed’s hawkish tilt on Bloomberg TV. “And with that comes implications for asset classes.”
Treasury yields advanced, with the 10 year rising to 1.51%. The dollar dipped and crude oil gained. Meanwhile, in Europe, stocks fell 0.6% with market sentiment hurt by reports that the U.K. is close to announcing new curbs, including vaccine passports for large venues and an order to work from home.
“All of this whipsawing around, I don’t think you have an easy time pointing to one particular news item each day over the last several days that’s caused it,” said Tim Courtney, chief investment officer at Exencial Wealth Advisors. “We’ve gone 20 months and still have not had a correction, and I think that is fueling some volatility.”
Stocks
–The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 3:31 p.m. New York time
–The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%
–The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
–The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
–The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
–The euro rose 0.8% to $1.1354
–The British pound was little changed at $1.3237
–The Japanese yen was little changed at 113.64 per dollar
Bonds
–The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 1.51%
–Germany’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to -0.31%
–Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 0.78%
Commodities
–West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $72.56 a barrel
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,618.36 on Wednesday, up 9.08 points or 0.56 per cent. Transactions totalled 69.26 billion baht with an index high of 1,621.21 and a low of 1,610.30.
The index rose for the second consecutive days after rising by 21.09 points or 1.33 per cent on Tuesday.
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were KBANK, CPALL, ADVANC, AOT, EA, SCB, BBL, PTT, TRUE and KTB.
Other Asian indices were on the rise:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 28,860.62, up 405.02 points or 1.42 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite closed at 3,637.57, up 42.48 points or 1.18 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component closed at 14,964.46, up 267.30 points or 1.82 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 23,996.87, up 13.21 points or 0.055 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 3,001.80, up 10.08 points or 0.34 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 17,832.42, up 35.50 points or 0.20 per cent.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index is expected to hit 1,800 points next year on hopes over recovery of Thailand economy, the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations (Fetco) said on Wednesday.
Fetco chairman Paiboon Nalinthrangkurn said Investor Confidence Index for the next three months has fallen by 19.9 per cent to 135.16 due to uncertainty over the outbreak of Omicron Covid-19 variant, global conflicts and foreign fund outflow.
However, he said investors’ confidence remains high on hopes over Thailand economic recovery, the government’s vaccination drive to deal with the Covid-19 crisis and recovery of the tourism industry.
“The SET Index still has a possibility to hit 1,800 points on hopes over recovery of Thailand economy as gross domestic product is expected to rise to 4 per cent compared to the previous that the country’s economic growth was slower than other countries in the region,” he said.
Paiboon added that over 100 billion baht foreign funds would flow into the Thai stock market on hopes over recovery of the tourism industry after the slowdown in the past two years.
The price of gold dropped by THB50 in morning trade on Wednesday.
A9.23am report from the Gold Traders Association showed the buying price of gold bar at THB28,300 per baht weight and selling price at THB28,400, while the buying and selling price of gold ornaments is THB27,788.28 and THB28,900, respectively.
At close on Tuesday, the buying price of gold bar was THB28,350 per baht weight and selling price THB28,450, while gold ornaments were THB27,833.76 and THB28,950, respectively.
The spot gold price on Wednesday morning was hovering around US$1,790 (THB59,928) per ounce after Comex gold at close on Tuesday rose by $5.2 to $1,784.7 per ounce due to support in buying gold before the New Year festival. Meanwhile, the market is keeping an eye on the US inflation figures in November on Friday, including meetings of the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank next week.
Krungsri Securities forecast the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index on Wednesday (December 8) would rise to between 1,615-1,620 points.
It said the index gained positive sentiment from the good news that Omicron patients developed mild symptoms despite high transmissible. It added that rising oil price above US$71 per barrel would help boost the index.
However, fund flow volatility due to uncertainty over US Federal Reserve’s signal it would taper its quantitative easing programme during the meeting next week would pressure the index.
It also recommended buying of the following companies’ shares as an investment strategy:
▪︎ RCL, LEO, III, WICE, SONIC and JWD, which benefit from rising freight rate.
▪︎ BBL, TTB, KTB and KBANK, which benefit from news of interest rate hike.
▪︎ HMPRO, CPN, CRC, AMATA, WHA, BTS, BEM and VGI, which are domestic play shares.
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that five co-leaders of the now-defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) have lost their status as members of Parliament and ordered by-elections in Chumphon and Songkhla to replace the removed MPs.
The five comprise three Democrat Party MPs – Chumphon MP Chumphol Julsai, party-list MP Issara Somchai and Songkhla MP Thaworn Senneam. The other two, both party-list MPs, are from the Palang Pracharath Party – Buddhipongse Punakanta and Nataphol Teepsuwan.
The Criminal Court on February 24 sentenced the five and others for up to five years in prison for their roles in the PDRC protests from 2013 to 2014 that led to the coup which ousted the Pheu Thai Party-led government.
Following the verdict, Thaworn, Buddhipongse and Nataphol had to quit their positions as deputy transport minister, digital economy and society minister and education minister, respectively. They were later released on bail and filed an appeal, while their MP status awaited judgement by the Constitutional Court.
Now, the court on Wednesday ruled that the roles of the five as members of Parliament should be terminated retroactively from April 7, 2021.
The court also ordered by-elections in Chumphon’s constituency 1 and Songkhla’s constituency 6 to fill the vacant MP positions.
As for the vacant party-listed MP slots, it will be filled by the next candidates on the list of the respective parties.
Over 18,000 vehicles have been found to emit black smoke exceeding the safety standard since the Air Pollution Administration Centre started testing random vehicles nationwide on October 1, said the centre’s communication chief Theerapat Prayoonsit on Wednesday (December 8).
“The campaign aims to tackle air pollution problems during cold season especially ones that caused by PM2.5 dust particles (particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter),” said Theerapat, who is also a permanent secretary at Prime Minister’s Office. “Of the vehicles that emit black smoke exceeding safety standard, 612 have been barred from usage until the issue is fixed.”
The centre has been working with the Pollution Control Department, Department of Land Transport and Traffic Police Division in setting up checkpoints to inspect emission rate of large and small vehicles in big cities such as Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
“We also dispatched officials to urge farmers to refrain from burning their fields after harvesting, which is one of the major sources of dust particles,” he said. “Vehicle users have also been told to keep their vehicles in good condition and only go out when necessary, especially during rush hours to protect their health from air pollution.”
Border patrol soldiers from the Royal Thai Army’s 13th Ranger Regiment arrested seven Cambodian migrants on Tuesday as they tried to cross the Sa Kaeo border in Aranyaprathet district in an attempt to go back into Cambodia.
“Officers spotted the group of suspects, comprising four men and three women, as they waded through a sugarcane field in Pa Rai subdistrict, which shares the border with Cambodia,” said one of the soldiers.
“A preliminary investigation showed the seven had entered Thailand without any documentation to work in Sa Kaeo province.”
One of the migrants reportedly said that the group hailed from Battambang and Siem Reap provinces in Cambodia and intended to go back home after hearing that the first Covid-19 Omicron case had been found in Thailand. They were afraid a new wave could emerge in the country.
The migrants also said they had received a warning shared among Cambodia workers in Thailand that the Omicron variant is extremely dangerous and easily transmittable, prompting them to quit their jobs and attempt to flee the country.
Thailand’s first Omicron case was detected in a 35-year-old American businessman on Friday (December 3). He had travelled from Spain on November 30 after living there for a year.
The Department of Disease Control said the patient had no symptoms and was not in close contact with many people.
The detained migrants were tested for Covid-19 before being taken to Khlong Leug police station to be charged with entering and trying to leave the country without any documentation.
The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) has posted pictures of Venus as the planet shone at its brightest for the last time this year on night of Tuesday (December 7).
In a facebook post on early Wednesday morning, NARIT said Venus was clearly visible last night next to the crescent Moon on the western side of the horizon. “Thanks to the clear and cloudless sky, Thai people can see it from almost all regions, except for some areas of the South that are experiencing monsoon weather,” it said.
“Venus will shine brightest when it orbits at suitable distance from Earth,” said the post. “The next time it will shine will be on February 9 of next year on the eastern side of the horizon, before the Sun rises.”
Venus is the brightest planet and the second planet in the solar system. It is called both the morning star and evening star because people can see the planet for a short while before sunrise or after sunset.
SootinClaimon.Com 