SET gains boost from US-China trade deal

A stock analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to hover between 1,275 and 1,280 points before falling, after the US and China agreed to move forward on the first phase of their trade agreement.
“In addition, investors expect the economic situation to recover from its low point after US non-farms payrolls in April were lower than expected and the number of new daily Covid-19 cases dropped to around 20,000,” the analyst said.
“Moreover, the [Thai] market gained positive sentiment after the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced that a second phase of lockdown easing would start this week [on Sunday, May 17].”
He forecast the index would fall due to a mass sell-off as investors expect companies’ first quarter performance to drop both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were PTT, PTTGC, CPALL, GPSC, BAM, ADVANC, GULF, AOT, BTS and BBL.
As of 5pm, the price of crude oil dropped by US$0.58 or 2.34 percent to $24.16 per barrel, while gold dropped by $11.30 or 0.66 percent, to $1,702.60 per ounce.
Meanwhile, US and European indices were on the slide, while Asian indices had a mixed day:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 20,390.66, up 211.57 points, or 1.05 percent.
China’s Shang Hai SE Composite Index closed at 2,894.80, down 0.54 points, or 0.019 percent, while Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 10,969.28, down 32.30 points, or 0.29 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 24,602.06, up 371.89 points, or 1.53 percent;
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 1,935.40, down 10.42 points, or 0.54 percent;
and Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 11,013.26, up 111.84 points, or 1.03 percent.