Stimulus package, Covid-19 situation hold key to SET Index direction

The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index is expected to move to the support level of 1,355 to 1,335 lower bound while resistance level is expected to be between 1,380 to 1,400 this week (March 9-13), Kasikorn Research Centre predicted.
Investors are advised to monitor a new economic stimulus package expected to be approved by the Cabinet this week and the latest developments on the global Covid-19 outbreak.
Global economic indicators to be closely watched include February’s consumer price index and producer price index in the US, the result of the European Central Bank meeting, the fourth quarter economic report by Japan and the euro-zone. China will also release a report on the consumer price index and the producer price index.
Last week (March 2-6), the SET Index retreated at the end of the week from large gains in previous days, as renewed worry over the coronavirus outbreak gripped the market.
The index, however, was up 1.79 per cent over the previous week, closing at 1,364.57 with daily trade volume of Bt 64.4 billion, down 21.8 per cent from the previous week. The MAI (Market for Alternative Investment) Index was up 2.9 per cent , closing at 269.34.
The SET Index was down in the beginning of the week, but rebounded sharply in the middle as investor sentiment was boosted by rate cuts by global central banks. Then the index retreated as investors worried about the worsening virus spreading outside China.