SET up despite weak US economic data
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,328.53 today (July 31), up 12.79 points or 0.97 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt61.281 billion with an index high of 1,328.64 and a low of 1,303.25.
In the morning session, a Krungsri Securities stock analyst expected the index to fall to 1,305 in response to weak US economic data after the country's second-quarter GDP contracted 32.9 per cent to its lowest in almost 70 years due to lockdown measures.
"In addition, US jobless claims rose to 1.4 million after 19 consecutive weeks of increases, showing that the US economy has not fully recovered," the analyst said.
"The increasing number of US Covid-19 cases will also pressure the index."
However, the index would rebound from mass buy-ups of stocks whose second-quarter performance shows improvement, the analyst added.
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were PTT, AOT, KBANK, GULF, IVL, PTTGC, CPALL, GLOBAL, CPF, and DELTA.
As of 4.30pm, the price of crude oil rose by US$0.20 or 0.5 per cent to $40.12 per barrel, while gold rose by $28.20 or 1.43 per cent, to $1,995 per ounce.
Other Asian indices were mixed:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 21,710, down 629.23 points, or 2.82 per cent
China’s Shang Hai SE Composite Index closed at 3,310.01, up 23.18 points, or 0.71 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 13,637.88, up 171.03 points, or 1.27 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 24,595.35, down 115.24 points, or 0.47 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,249.37, down 17.64 points, or 0.78 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 12,664.80, down 58.12 points, or 0.46 per cent.
