SET rises as companies prepare to unveil Q2 performance

In the morning session, a stock analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to fall to 1,340 before rebounding slightly due to a lack of new positive sentiments to stimulate investment.

"The index is still under pressure from US-China tensions after the US imposed visa restrictions on Chinese technology company employees, claiming the companies supported the Chinese government in abusing human rights," the analyst said.

"Also, the figure of more than 1 million US jobless claims will pressure the index."

However, the analyst said the index would rebound via mass buy-ups of shares in companies whose second-quarter performance would improve.

"We advise investors to follow banks and financial institutions' second-quarter performance announcements," the analyst added. "We expect banks and financial institutions' second-quarter performance to drop, both quarter on quarter and year on year."

The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were STGT, EA, STA, CPALL, PTT, CPF, KBANK, MINT, SUPER, and OSP.

As of 4.30pm, the price of crude oil had dropped by US$0.26 or 0.64 per cent to $40.49 per barrel, while gold rose by $2.70 or 0.15 per cent, to $1,803 per ounce.

Changes in Asian indices were mixed:

Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 22,696.42, down 73.94 points, or 0.32 per cent.

China’s Shang Hai SE Composite Index closed at 3,214.13, up 4.03 points, or 0.13 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 13,114.94, up 118.60 points, or 0.91 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 25,089.17, up 118.48 points, or 0.47 per cent.

South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,201.19, up 17.43 points, or 0.80 per cent.

Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 12,181.56, up 23.82 points, or 0.20 per cent.