#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Consumers remain sunk in worry over Covid-19, politics

EconAug 08. 2020Pro-democracy activists launch a petition for 50,000 signatures needed for a motion to rewrite the Constitution at Thammasat University on Friday (August 7). Meanwhile consumers are worried about emerging political instability and the persisting impact of Covid-19.

By The Nation

Consumer confidence rose for a third consecutive month in July, but the index remains at a record low.

The Consumer Confidence Index moved to 50.1 in July, up from 49.2 in June, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) said.

 “This is the third monthly increase in a row, but the index remains at a historic low since being launched 21 years and 10 months ago, Thanawat Polvichai, rector of UTCC and chief adviser to UTCC’s Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting, said on Friday (August 7).

The index rated the state of economy at 42.6, job opportunities at 48.4 and outlook for future income at 59.3 – far below the threshold of 100 and the lowest level in 21 years, he said.

Consumers lack confidence because they are worried about the threat of a second wave of virus infections, which will continue to drag down the economy and wipe away job opportunities.

On the positive side, the economy had bottomed out in the second quarter, Thanawat said.

However, consumers were delaying spending on durable goods such as cars and large household items over worry about their future income.

Consumers are also worried about political stability following the Cabinet reshuffle and almost daily student-led protests.

More political gatherings are expected after universities open next week, he said.

The Consumer Confidence Index was released on the same day that police issued a batch of arrest warrants for protest leaders. Pro-democracy groups have vowed to intensify their political activities in response to what they say is legal suppression of free speech by authorities.

Thanawat said newly appointed Finance Minister Predee Daochai and Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow are thought to have a strong understanding of the current economic situation. The government may need another stimulus injection of Bt200 billion to Bt300 billion and spend another Bt300 billion to rescue small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with soft loans, he said.

Should the economy not continue improving this year, 1-2 million workers may lose their jobs, he warned.

The government could boost the jobs situation by allowing private companies to hire workers on an hourly basis, he suggested.

A survey showed consumers are expected to spend Bt9.98 billion on Mother’s Day (August 12) – down by 28 per cent on last year’s holiday.

“Facing high debt burdens and uncertain futures, more and more consumers are borrowing money from pawn shops, underground lenders and their relatives,” he added.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

SET dips again due to lack of new upbeat factors

EconAug 07. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index fell for a second day today (August 7) closing at 1,324.40, down 8.82 points or 0.66 per cent. Total transactions stood at Bt44.367 billion with an index high of 1,333.21 and a low of 1,321.16.

During the morning session, a stock analyst at Krungsri Securities said he expected the index to fluctuate between 1,325 and 1,340 due to the lack of new positive sentiment to boost investment.

“The market had initially been positive about ongoing progress in the $1-trillion US economic stimulus package, an agreement for which is expected to be reached soon, and from the price of crude oil rising to more than $41 per barrel,” he said.

“However, mass sell-offs after listed companies announce their second-quarter performance will pressure the index.”

The top 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were PTT, ADVANC, AOT, PTTEP, STGT, STA, CPALL, CPF, GPSC and PTTGC.

As of 4.30pm, the price of crude oil dropped by US$0.37 or 0.88 per cent to $41.58 per barrel, while gold rose by $0.80 or 0.04 per cent, to $2,070.20 per ounce.

Other Asian indices were mixed:

Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 22,329.94, down 88.21 points, or 0.39 per cent.

China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,354.04, down 32.43 points, or 0.96 per cent, while Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 13,648.50, down 214.63 points, or 1.55 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 24,531.62, down 398.96 points, or 1.60 per cent.

South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,351.67, up 9.06 points, or 0.39 per cent.

Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 12,828.87, down 84.63 points, or 0.66 per cent.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

BH Q2 slump rings alarm bells for hospital stocks

EconAug 07. 2020

By The Nation

The price of hospital shares dropped sharply due to uncertainty among investors over weak second-quarter performance after Bumrungrad Hospital’s profit dropped by 93.9 per cent to Bt44.42 million from the same period of the previous year at Bt724 million.

Hospitals’ share price on Thursday (August 6) fell by 50.30 points, or 1.07 per cent, to 4,635.04 points. The price of Praram 9 Hospital (PR9)’s shares closed at Bt6.60 per share, down Bt0.15 or 2.22 per cent, Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS) closed at Bt21.20 per share, down Bt0.40 or 1.85 per cent, and Bumrungrad Hospital (BH) closed at Bt109 per share, down Bt1.50 or 1.36 per cent.

Suwat Wattanapornprom, director of Asia Plus Securities’s research department, expected the profit of other hospitals to take as big a hit as BH, especially hospitals that get a lot of foreign patients because the number of these patients have dropped significantly due to the Covid-19 fallout that has resulted in countries’ lockdowns and travel restrictions.

“We expect hospitals’ second-quarter performance to be the worst this year because the Covid-19 situation in the country began to ease, while some countries began to lift lockdown measures,” he said.

“However, hospitals that have a lot of foreign patients would recover slower than hospitals that have domestic patients because foreign patients still face a lot of difficulties.”

He added that the securities company had cut BH’s profit forecast for this year by approximately 30 per cent to Bt1.6 billion from the previous forecast of Bt2.3 billion because the hospital’s second-quarter profit was worse than expected.

“We weighted investment in hospital shares same as the market,” he added.

Meanwhile, Piyachat Ratanasuvan, senior director at Kasikorn Securities, said investors were concerned about weak hospital performance as BH’s second-quarter profit was worse than expected.

“We expect hospitals’ performance to recover by the third quarter of this year because the number of domestic and foreign patients is expected to increase,” she said.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Slow sales by foreign investors keeps Thai stocks stable

EconAug 07. 2020

By The Nation

Thai stock market in July this year was stable as foreign investors delayed net sales, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) said.

Soraphol Tulayasathien, SET senior executive vice president and head of corporate strategy division, said the SET Index in July this year closed at 1,328.53, down 0.8 per cent month on month due to uncertainty following US-China tensions, the second Covid-19 wave, countries’ economic data, and listed companies’ performance in the first half of this year, causing the index to move in a narrow range.

“The SET Index at the end of the previous year fell by 15.9 per cent, but still higher than MSCI Asean that fell by 19.4 per cent,” he said.

“However, some industries, such as agro-food and consumer products industries in July this year rose more than the SET at the end of the previous year.”

He said some businesses had benefited from the government’s move to ease lockdown measures, such as electronic components, food and beverage, and personal items and medical supplies businesses, adding that July was the first month to see signs of recovery outside the SET100 Index.

“In July this year, average daily transactions on the SET and Market for Alternative Investment amounted to Bt64.010 billion, same as the previous year, while average daily transactions in the first seven months amounted to Bt67.972 billion, up 31.3 per cent year on year,” he said.

“Investors in the country made the highest transaction for five consecutive months at 48.03 per cent of total transactions, while foreign investors made net sales of only Bt9.938 billion, the lowest in seven months.”

He said two companies had launched initial public offerings (IPO) in July this year, namely Sri Trang Gloves and Silicon Craft Technology.

“The IPO value totalled Bt15.043 billion, while transactions amounted to Bt81.441 billion, accounting for 6.46 per cent of transactions in July,” he said.

The Thai stock market’s forward and historical price to earnings (P/E) at the end of July was 21.4 and 19.1 times respectively, higher than the average forward and historical price to earnings of Asian stock markets at 16.3 and 17.5 times respectively.

“Meanwhile, the market dividend yield at the end of July was 3.66, higher than the average dividend yield of Asian stock markets at 3.03 per cent,” he said.

He added that the Thai futures market’s average daily transaction in July was 397,340 contracts, down 20.3 per cent month on month, especially from Single Stock Future and SET50 Index Futures.

“In the first seven months, Thai futures market’s average daily transactions were 484,269 contracts, up 21.75 per cent year on year,” he added.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Limited upside room for SET due to lack of positive factors

EconAug 07. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index fell by 0.98 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 1,332.24 on Friday morning (August 7).

A stock analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to fluctuate between 1,325 and 1,340 due to lack of new positive sentiment to boost the investment.

“The market gained positive sentiment from ongoing progress in the $1-trillion US economic stimulus package on which an agreement is expected to be reached soon, and from the rising price of crude oil to over $41 per barrel,” he said.

“However, mass sell-offs in stocks after listed companies announced their second-quarter performance will pressure the index.”

He recommended that investors buy:

▪︎ Energy stocks that benefit from rising crude oil price, such as PTT, PTTEP, TOP, PTTGC, SPRC and IVL.

▪︎ Stocks whose second-quarter performance will improve, such as TOP, PTTGC, SPRC, BGRIM, CPF, TU, ASIAN, TASCO, STA, STGT, AP, PRM, PTL, AJ, CBG, TQM, JMT, CHAYO, PTG and BCH.

The SET index fell by 4.13 points, or 0.31 per cent, closing at 1,333 at close on Thursday.

Total transactions amounted to Bt55 billion due to mass sell-offs in small and medium stocks before listed companies announce their second-quarter performance by next week.

The market also was pressured by the fall in the European stock market due to weak economic data in several countries.

Foreign investors made net buys in stocks worth Bt608 million and net sales in bonds worth Bt2.626 billion. There were 11,587 net TFEX SET50 contracts.