He said the index support line is between 1,300 and 1,320, while the resistance line is between 1,355 and 1,380.

Meanwhile, he advised investors to monitor Thailand’s inflation rate in May, the Covid-19 situation, and tensions between the US and China.

“As far as US economic data is concerned, we advise following the Purchasing Managers’ Index in manufacturing and service sectors, nonagricultural employment and jobless rate in May,” the analyst said.

“For other international factors, we advise following the European Central Bank’s meeting on monetary policy and the euro-zone and China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index in May.”

On Friday (May 29), the SET Index closed at 1,342.85, up 2.98 per cent from the previous week, while average daily transaction was Bt77.688 billion, up 15.22 per cent from the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Market for Alternative Investment closed at 284.87, up 4.09 per cent from the previous week.

The S&P 500 ended May on an up note as it capped a second monthly advance. Equities turned higher after Trump announced retaliation against China by withdrawing from the World Health Organization. He said his administration will look into eliminating policies that give Hong Kong preferential treatment. The president did not institute sanctions on Chinese officials as was anticipated.

“Nothing on changing trade deal or anything else with teeth. Looking into actions, might do something in the future, but markets won’t worry about that now,” said Dennis DeBusschere, a strategist at Evercore ISI. “He also stuck to script and hit many of the logical things people are upset with China about.”

Stocks gained 4.5% in May, buoyed by signs the economy is stirring after shutting down in April. But a flurry of negative headlines weighed on sentiment earlier in the day. U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the world’s largest economy, plunged a record 13.6% in April after the coronavirus pandemic halted purchases of all but the most essential goods and services.

Meanwhile, the president is escalating a confrontation with Twitter Inc. that threatens to damage social-media platform operators. Trump is also weighing in on political unrest in the Midwest, where protests against police violence have turned unruly. Chairman Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve’s main street lending program will start soon.

“I’m very cautious on my medium and even long-term outlook for the markets,” Kate Jaquet, a portfolio manager at Seafarer Capital Partners LLC, said on Bloomberg TV. “I perceive there to be a very large disconnect between stock-market valuations across the globe and underlying company fundamentals.”

The Stoxx 600 Index declined for the first time in five days, dragged lower by travel shares and automakers. The euro edged higher after the region’s inflation rate fell to the lowest in four years, adding to reasons for authorities to expand monetary stimulus.

Iron ore surged past $100 a ton as supply woes in Brazil coincide with sustained, robust demand in top steel producer China. Crude oil rallied late and posted its biggest monthly advance on record.

These are some of the main market moves:

Stocks

The S&P 500 Index gained 0.5% to 3,044.31 as of 4:03 p.m. EDT, the highest in more than 12 weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 0.1% to 25,383.11.

The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.3% to 9,489.87, the highest in 14 weeks on the largest climb in more than a week.

The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.1% to 509.53, reaching the highest in 12 weeks on its fifth straight advance.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.2% to 1,228.25, the lowest in 11 weeks.

The euro gained 0.2% to $1.1102, the strongest in two months.

The Japanese yen depreciated 0.2% to 107.82 per dollar, the weakest in six weeks.

Bonds

The yield on two-year Treasurys sank one basis point to 0.16%, the lowest in two weeks on the biggest tumble in more than a week.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys decreased four basis points to 0.65%, the lowest in two weeks on the largest tumble in more than a week.

Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 0.184%, the biggest drop in more than a week.

Germany’s 10-year yield decreased three basis points to -0.45%, the largest tumble in more than three weeks.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude increased 4.4% to $35.21 a barrel, the highest in more than 11 weeks on the biggest climb in more than a week.

Gold strengthened 0.8% to $1,731.78 an ounce, the largest climb in more than two weeks.

The new committee, to be proposed early next month, will be chaired by the premier and comprise heads of state agencies and private sector representatives.

The committee’s job will be to oversee existing special economic zones at borders as well as planned economic zones.

The planned zones are:

• The Northern Economic Corridor, covering the provinces of Chiang Mai, Lampun, Lampang and Chiang Rai, all of which are reputed for craftwork.

• The Central-Western Economic Corridor, covering Ayutthaya, Suphanburi, Nakhon Pathom and Kanchanaburi provinces, which are all known for farming and eco-tourism.

• The Northeast Economic Corridor, spanning Udon Thani, Khon Khaen, and Nakhon Ratchasima.

• The Southern Economic Corridor, covering Chumpon, Ranong and Surat Thani provinces.

“The flows into New York are unprecedented,” said Allan Finn, global commodities director at logistics and security provider Malca-Amit. His company’s teams in New York have been working 24 hours a day to cope with demand while navigating lockdowns, flight disruptions and social distancing.

Gold flooded into the U.S. in recent months as traders rushed to profit from an arbitrage caused by dislocations in the market triggered by the pandemic. Since late March, some 550 tons of gold — worth $30 billion at today’s price and roughly equal to global mine output in the period — have been added to Comex warehouse stockpiles. Hundreds of tons of that was imported.

While tens of billions of dollars of gold change hands every day in financial markets, a much smaller amount tends to physically move between vaults in trading hubs like London, Zurich and New York.

But that started to change as the covid-19 crisis affected the supply chain. When planes were grounded and Swiss refineries closed in late March, traders were worried they wouldn’t be able to get gold to New York in time to deliver against futures contracts. That caused futures, which typically trade in lockstep with the London spot price, to soar to a premium of as much as $70 an ounce.

That created an opportunity for enterprising traders: buy gold somewhere in the world at the spot price, sell futures, and benefit from the difference by shipping the metal to New York.

The scale of the trade has been revealed in exchange reports, import and export data and comments from some of the leading precious metals shipping and vaulting companies. On Thursday, traders declared their intent to deliver 2.8 million ounces of gold against the June Comex contract, the largest daily delivery notice in bourse data going back to 1994.

Swiss gold exports to the U.S. have surged, reaching 111.7 tons in April, the highest on record. American import data for April isn’t yet available, but already in March gold imports topped $3 billion, according to the Census Bureau, the highest in at least a decade. Refineries as far away as Australia have ramped up output of kilobars — the form typically delivered on the Comex — to ship to New York.

For Brink’s Managing Director Mark Woolley, the spike in demand to ship gold to New York has been unlike anything he’s seen in 20 years in the market.

“The amount of metal that we’ve successfully moved into New York is pretty significant,” he said Thursday on a webinar hosted by the London Bullion Market Association. “It’s probably not far off the total amount of metal that’s been mined in this period.”

The enormous movement of gold has been a boon for logistics companies, but also a challenge. Not only have passenger flights — on which shipments are typically transported — been grounded, but New York City, where many Comex warehouses are located, has also been a hotspot for the virus.

To deal with flows, Loomis International U.K. opened up additional vault capacity. Malca-Amit considered using airports in Boston and Philadelphia, but hasn’t needed to yet, Finn said.

While large volumes and virus-related restrictions at vaults and airports caused some delivery delays, much of the spike in the premium for futures contracts in March — which left some banks nursing sizable losses — was driven by perception rather than reality, Finn said.

“My own personal opinion is that any assessment on the inability to get gold in was ill-informed at the time and was made on assumptions rather than fact,” he said.

Still, the bonanza for precious metals shippers may last a while. Large deliveries have seen June Comex futures drop to a discount to spot prices this week, but later dated futures are still at a premium. And as investor interest in other precious metals picked up, futures for silver and platinum have also traded at premiums to spot.

“The guys in New York have done a great job,” said Brian Hayward, head of Loomis International U.K. “We’re seeing a lot of silver head that way right now.”

Goods exports plummeted 25.2% in April from the prior month, the biggest decline in records back to 1989, to $95.4 billion, according to Commerce Department data released Friday. Imports decreased 14.3%, also the largest yet, to $165 billion. Combined, the value of U.S. exports and imports dropped to $260.4 billion, the lowest since April 2010.

The goods-trade deficit widened to $69.7 billion from a revised $65 billion a month earlier. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a $65 billion gap.

The advance indicators report also showed retail inventories declined 3.6% from March. Wholesale stockpiles rose 0.4%.

The data indicate the second quarter got off to a weaker start as companies and consumers largely remained on lockdown. Analysts use these numbers to adjust estimates for quarterly economic growth.

Household outlays fell 13.6% from the prior month, the sharpest drop in Commerce Department records back to 1959, data showed Friday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 12.8% decline.

Incomes posted a record 10.5% increase, contrasting with estimates for a 5.9% decline, as federal economic-recovery payments were distributed under the CARES Act, the report said. It showed an annualized $3 trillion of government social benefits were provided in April, up from $70.2 billion the prior month.

With the drop in spending, the personal savings rate jumped to a record 33% from 12.7%.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of consumer prices rose 0.5% from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 1961 and far below the central bank’s 2% target. The core price index, which excludes more-volatile food and energy costs, advanced 1%, the least since 2011.

While the income replacement is helping consumers and Americans are slowly returning to traveling and eating out, economists expect it will take at least a year before spending recovers to pre-virus levels — especially with no vaccine or significant treatment yet in sight for a disease that’s killed more than 100,000 Americans, the highest official toll in the world.

In a contrast with the headline income number, wages and salaries fell 8% from the prior month amid widespread job losses, reductions in hours and pay cuts. The income category of personal current transfer receipts surged 89.6%.

A separate report Friday showed U.S. merchandise trade in April slumped to the lowest level in a decade as the pandemic curtailed demand and disrupted supply lines.

After adjusting for inflation, spending fell by an annualized $1.66 trillion, or 13.2% in April, also the most ever, supporting forecasts for gross domestic product to shrink by a record in the April-June period. The main drivers of the monthly decline were spending on food and beverages, restaurants, hotels and health care.