High hopes for the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) as the number of confirmed cases and fatalities begin to decline in hotspots around the US and Europe.
Italy, Spain and France have all reported less cases and casualties over the weekend, while the number of death and hospitalization rates in New York, the new the epicenter of the pandemic, are stabilizing.
Thailand reported 51 cases on Monday, compared to an average of around 100 new cases per day last week. However, both Italy and France reported an increase in their daily death toll on Monday, after a decline in recent days. The total confirmed cases around the world has now surpassed 1.3 million people.
With lockdowns beginning to work in Europe and Thailand, and as economies are being boosted with fiscal and monetary measures, the Thai equity market is looking more optimistic on Tuesday.
On Friday, the economic cabinet announced a third economic relief package that will come with more handouts and soft loans directly from the Bank of Thailand. The value of the package will be announced after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said the entire cost of the economic packages, including the recently announced relief package, could cost the country 10 per cent of its GDP or 1.7 trillion baht in total.
Due to the OPEC+ meeting being delayed till April 9, the crude pressure has dropped in oil prices on Monday. Experts now expect Brent crude futures to be trading on an average of US$20 per barrel throughout the second quarter of 2020. The international benchmark was trading at $34.05 per barrel on Tuesday morning.
For the SET, Krungsri Securities expects the index to be trading in the range of 1165-1190 on Tuesday. The index closed at 1138.84 points last Friday, up 0.57 points or 0.05 per cent.
They recommended shares within the food group (CPF and TU) as they are benefitting from the weakening baht. The currency was trading at 32.86 baht per US dollar on Tuesday morning.
They also recommended shares within the ICT group (ADVANC, INTUCH, and DTAC) as they are benefitting from the ‘work from home’ trend and the shares within defensive stock groups that have good dividend payment, such as TTW and BCPG.
