Stock index opens up

A stock analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to rise between 1,275 and 1,280 points before falling as the US and China agreed to move forward under the first phase of a trade agreement.
“In addition, investors expected the economy to get through the lowest point after US non-farms payrolls in April were lower than expected and the number of new Covid-19 patients in that country dropped to around 20,000,” the analyst said.
“Moreover, the market gained positive sentiment after the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced that a second phase of lockdown easing would start this week.”
He said the index would fall due to a mass sell-off of stocks as investors expected companies’ first quarter performance to drop both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
He suggested investors make selective buys from these four groups of stocks:
● Retail stocks that would benefit from the second phase of the country easing its lockdown, such as CRC, CPN, HMPro, Global, Com7 and DoHome.
● Stocks whose first quarter performance are expected to improve, such as CPF, IVL and BCPG.
● Stocks that would be added to Morgan Stanley Capital International calculation, such as KTC, AWC and TOA.
● Energy stocks that would benefit from rising oil prices after Opec+ began to cut production, such as PTT, PTTEP, Top, PTTGC and SPRC.