Stimulus possibilities lift sagging stock market

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rebounded in Tuesday's (March 3) morning session by 23.59 points, or 1.77 per cent to 1,359.31.
A stock analyst at Krungsri Securities has predicted that the SET Index would rise to between 1,355-1,360 due to rebounding of global stocks from expectation that the US Federal Reserve and central banks worldwide would cooperate with financial organisations, such as International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to issue measures to relieve the impact from the Covid-19 virus.
On March 2, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and President of World Bank Group David Malpass issued a joint statement on the websites of both organisations that they stand ready to help member countries address the human tragedy and economic challenge posed by the Covid-19 virus.
“We expect that the Fed would cut the interest rate during the meeting on March 17-18,” the stock analyst said.
“Also, the market has gained positive sentiment from increasing oil price amid expectation that Opec and its partners would cut more production capacity by 600,000 barrel a day during the meeting on March 5-6, while the Thai Ministry of Finance is prepared to propose economic stimulus measures to the Cabinet.”
The analyst warned investors to beware of profit-taking during the rebound due to uncertainty following the worldwide spread of Covid-19.
The analyst recommended three groups of stocks for investors: 
● Defensive stocks expected to pay high dividends, such as ADVANC, INTUCH, and TTW 
● Electronic and food stocks, which will benefit from the weakening baht, such as KCE, HANA, DELTA, CPF, and TU 
● Financial stocks, which will benefit from reduced financial costs after the Monetary Policy Committee cut the interest rate by 0.25 per cent, such as MTC, SAWAD, and KTC