News of plasma treatment for Covid-19 boosts SET
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index on Monday (August 24) climbed by 17 points after the US approved the use of blood plasma to treat Covid-19 patients, US-Europe trade talks showed positive signs and the FTSE boosted Thai stock weight, experts said.
During the afternoon session, SET index hit the highest at 1,138.20 before falling to 1,317.11, up 17.85 points or 1.37 per cent at Monday’s close, while total transactions amounted to Bt57.078 billion.
Institutional investors and brokerage accounts made net buys of Bt1.517 billion and Bt732.04 million respectively, while foreign and domestic investors made net sales of Bt126.49 million and Bt2.122 billion, respectively.
Koraphat Vorachet, director of research and investment at Capital Nomura Securities, said the SET Index rose sharply in yesterday’s afternoon session after the US approved the use of blood plasma to treat Covid-19 patients and US-Europe trade talks showed signs of resulting in tax cuts.
“Also, FTSE boosted Thai stock weight which will be effective on September 18, so we expect about US$119 million or Bt3.7 billion to flow into Thai stocks,” he said.
He added that Thai stocks listed in FTSE All World Index (Large-Mid Cap), namely Central Retail Corporation (CRC), Bangkok Bank, (BBL) and Carabao Group (CBG) would gain $90.5 million, $76 million and $32 million, respectively.
“Meanwhile, FTSE will decrease the weight of PTT, CP All [CPALL], Siam Cement [SCC], Airports of Thailand [AOT], Advanced Info Services [ADVANC], Bangkok Dusit Medical Services [BDMS], Siam Commercial Bank [SCB], Gulf Energy Development [GULF] and PTT Exploration and Production [PTTEP] by about $3 million each,” he added.
