SET under pressure as investors await US Fed Reserve’s decision on interest rates
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index is expected to hover between 1,640 and 1,645 points on Monday, Krungsri Securities said.
It forecasts that the index will be under pressure from the mass sell-offs expected once the US Federal Reserve meets on January 25-26 to decide whether it will raise interest rates to tackle inflation.
However, mass buy-ups of company shares whose business turnover is expected to grow and those that have gained positive sentiment will help bolster the index, Krungsri Securities said.
It recommends the following purchases as an investment strategy:
• AOT, MINT, CENTEL, ERW and AAV will benefit from the government’s move to relaunch the Test & Go scheme from February 1 and the fourth phase of the “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) travel subsidy this week.
• PTTEP, TOP, PTTGC, IVL and SPRC will benefit from the rising price of oil and gross refining margin.
• BBL, TTB, KBANK, KTB and BLA will benefit from news of the US interest rate hike.
The SET Index closed at 1,652.73 on Friday, down 4.23 points or 0.26 per cent. Transactions totalled 81.33 billion baht with an index high of 1,655.42 and a low of 1,641.86.
