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Markets wrap: Stocks post biggest weekly increase since July

EconOct 10. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Claire Ballentine, Vildana Hajric · BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS

U.S. stocks rallied, with the S&P 500 posting its biggest weekly increase since July, as traders bet lawmakers are moving closer to providing more fiscal stimulus. Treasury yields were mostly flat and the dollar slipped.

The benchmark equity gauge rose for a third day with President Donald Trump saying he now wants an even bigger package than what Democrats offered. For the week, the index finished up 3.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 jumped 1.5% on Friday, with chip maker Xilinx Inc. leaping on a report it’s in advanced talks for a $30 billion takeover by rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

“We’ve had this whipsaw around wondering if there will be more fiscal stimulus, which I think we desperately need to keep the economy rolling,” said Ron Temple, head of U.S. equity at Lazard Asset Management LLC.

European stocks rose as a host of companies raised outlooks, from Denmark’s drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S to German online clothing retailer Zalando SE. Stocks fell in Spain, where the government’s cabinet met to declare a state of emergency for Madrid to control Covid-19. Italy’s 10-year bond yield fell a record low.

Investors ended a volatile week with a risk-on attitude. With Trump recuperating from Covid-19 in the final stretch of the election campaign, they’re increasingly betting a Joe Biden victory is likely. Speculation is moving now to whether Democrats will sweep Congress too and then enact massive stimulus.

“There’s also the possibly you could see a Democratic sweep in the election and that raises the prospects for higher taxes, which would be a negative, but also for really pronounced stimulus and that could take some of the more extreme risks off the table,” said Giorgio Caputo, senior fund manager at J O Hambro Capital Management

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin headed into talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday carrying a White House offer of $1.8 trillion for economic stimulus, according to people familiar with the matter. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier it was unlikely an agreement could be reached in Congress before the election.

Elsewhere, Vanguard Group Inc. returned about $21 billion in managed assets to government clients in China as part of a global shift to focus on low-cost funds for individual investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

Oil in New York edged lower with Hurricane Delta’s top sustained winds weakening as the storm approached the U.S. Gulf Coast.

– – –

These are some of the main moves in global markets:

– The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.9% to 3,477.10 as of 4:01 p.m. New York time, the highest in more than five weeks.

– The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 28,586.97, the highest in more than five weeks.

– The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.4% to 11,579.95, the highest in more than five weeks.

– The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped 1.5% to 11,725.85, the highest in five weeks.

– The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.6% to 370.35, the highest in more than three weeks.

– – –

– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.7% to 1,162.56, the lowest in more than three weeks on the biggest drop in six weeks.

– The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1824, the strongest in three weeks.

– The Japanese yen appreciated 0.4% to 105.61 per dollar, the strongest in a week on the biggest advance in more than three weeks.

– – –

– The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased one basis point to 0.77%.

– The yield on 30-year Treasuries dipped two basis points to 1.57%.

– Germany’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to -0.53%, the lowest in a week.

– Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.28%, the lowest in a week.

– – –

– West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 1.6% to $40.54 a barrel.

– Gold strengthened 1.8% to $1,928.68 an ounce, the highest in three weeks on the biggest climb in more than seven weeks.

– Copper gained 1.2% to $3.08 a pound, the highest in three weeks.

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Thailand targeting more FTAs next year

EconOct 09. 2020Director general Auramon Supthaweethum. 

By The Nation

Thailand is speeding up talks in order to reach free trade agreements (FTAs) with several territories next year, the Trade Negotiations Department said on Friday.

The department will push hard to complete separate FTAs with Turkey, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, said its director general Auramon Supthaweethum.

It will also press for revision of Asean free trade agreements with China, with India, with South Korea and with Australia-New Zealand, to open their markets to a wider range of Thai goods.

Meanwhile the department is planning to initiate FTA talks with other key economies, including the UK. A study of impacts of a Thailand-UK FTA is expected to be finished early next year.

A completed study on impacts of a Thailand-European Union FTA will be put to the Cabinet in December, Auramon added.

The EU has already signed free trade deals with Singapore and Vietnam and is in talks for a deal with Indonesia. It has suspended talks with Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. Talks with Thailand began in 2013 but were suspended in 2014 following the military coup.

Thailand has so far signed 13 FTAs with 18 countries – Asean partners, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Peru.

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SET falls after mass sell-offs ahead of Bangkok protest

EconOct 09. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,267.14 on Friday, down 7.69 points or 0.60 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt51 billion with an index high of 1,280.81 and a low of 1,264.24.

In the morning session, a Krungsri Securities analyst expected the day’s index to fluctuate between 1,265 and 1,285 despite the rising oil price and progress in US economic stimulus measures.

The analyst warned of fallout from domestic anti-government protests on October 14.

“Investors should beware of mass sell-offs to mitigate risks from the political rally [in Bangkok] next week, as it would pressure the index,” he said.

The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were NRF, NER, TASCO, PTT, PTTEP, AOT, KBANK, CPF, IVL and MINT.

As of 4.30pm, the price of oil dropped by US$0.46 or 1.12 per cent to $40.73 per barrel, while gold rose by $24.20 or 1.28 per cent, to $1,919.30 per ounce.

Other Asian indices were mixed:

Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 23,619.69, down 27.38 points or 0.12 per cent.

China’s Shang Hai SE Composite Index closed at 3,272.08, up 54.02 points or 1.68 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 13,289.26, up 381.81 points or 2.96 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 24,119.13, down 74.22 points or 0.31 per cent.

South Korea’s KOSPI Index was closed for Hangul Day, while Taiwan’s TAIEX Index was closed for National Day.

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Trading on Thai bourse normal after new rule on short sales, says SET chief

EconOct 09. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has confirmed that the volume of short sales was normal after implementing the zero-plus-tick rule, while promising to monitor trading closely.

Previously, the SET used the uptick rule that allowed investors to engage in short-selling only when the share price was higher than the latest trading price, to mitigate market volatility. It announced recently that from October 1 onwards, it would use the old zero-plus-tick rule, which enables investors to engage in short-selling when the share price is higher or equal to the latest trading price.

SET president Pakorn Peetathawatchai said there was no change in investor behaviour, as the volume of short sales in the past eight days was 1-4 per cent from 4-8 per cent when uptick rules were in effect.

However, he said the SET would closely monitor investor behaviour and the volume of short sales to check if there were any abnormalities.

“Also, the SET would monitor the stock market situation closely because of the US presidential election next month, which may impact global stock indices,” he said.

He expected the market capitalisation of initial public offering (IPO) shares this year to hit the target although many large companies have postponed their issues.

“We believe that PTT Oil and Retail Business [PTTOR]’s move to postpone its IPO to next year was not due to the stock market situation, because several investors would be interested in buying PTTOR shares and many companies are offering IPO shares in the stock market,” he said.

“However, we want more large, medium, and small companies to list on the stock market although the market is not currently on the upside, because there are sufficient positive sentiments to boost investment.”

The president of the Market for Alternative Investment (mai), Prapan Charoenprawatt, said some companies had postponed their offerings in the market which may be due to Covid-19’s impact on their financial budget.

“Since the beginning of this year, six companies have been listed on the MAI, while expecting that up to five companies were ready to raise funds in the market,” he said.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) assistant secretary-general Jomkwan Kongsakul said approximately 30 companies were waiting to launch IPOs, adding that medium and small companies had postponed their offerings as well.

“The postponement of IPOs may be due to market volatility and companies’ intention to set up an IPO share price. However, companies must inform the SEC if they want to update their filing information,” she said.

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SET faces volatility from sell-offs to mitigate risks from political rally next week

EconOct 09. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index fell by 0.49 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 1,274.34 in the morning session on Friday.

An analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to fluctuate between 1,265 and 1,285 despite the rise in oil price and ongoing progress in the US economic stimulus measures.

“Investors should beware of mass sell-offs of shares to mitigate risks from the political rally next week, as it would pressure the index,” he said.

As an investment strategy, he recommended that investors buy:

▪︎ PTTEP, TOP and PTTGC that will benefit from rising oil price.

▪︎ CRC, HMPRO, JMART, COM7, KTC, CENTEL and MINT that will benefit from the government’s “Shop Dee Mee Kuen” (Shop and Payback) scheme.

▪︎ TU, PLANB, STGT, COM7, ASIAN and CBG whose third-quarter performance is expected to grow.

The SET Index closed at 1,274 on Thursday, up 11.12 points or 0.88 per cent, while transactions amounted to Bt56 billion in response to the news of US President Donald Trump’s U-turn on stimulus measures and Thailand’s Centre for Economic Situation Administration approving the “Shop Dee Mee Kuen” (Shop and Payback) scheme to stimulate consumer spending.

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Gold price rises over ongoing progress of US economic stimulus measures

EconOct 09. 2020

By The Nation

The price of gold rose by Bt200 per baht weight in morning trade on Friday, the Gold Traders Association reported.

As of 9.21am, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt28,000 per baht weight and selling price Bt28,100, while gold ornaments were priced at Bt27,500.24 and Bt28,600, respectively.

At close on Thursday, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt27,800 per baht weight and selling price Bt27,900, while gold ornaments were Bt27,303.16 and Bt28,400, respectively.

Spot gold price moved to US$1,905 (Bt59,278) per ounce on Friday morning after the price rose by $43 to $1,895.1 per ounce at Thursday’s close in response to ongoing progress of US economic stimulus measures after US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the White House and the Democrats could reach an agreement to roll out these measures.

Hong Kong gold price rose by HK$70, opening at $17,550 (Bt70,469) per tael this morning, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.