SET, Asian indices down on Covid-19 jitters

In the morning session, a stock analyst at Krungsri Securities said the index on Tuesday would continue to move in negative territory – between 1,330 and 1,335 points – as investors worried over a further round of possible lockdowns in the United States as well as a new wave of Covid-19 in Thailand.
In California, some venues have been ordered to close again after a surge in infections. Meanwhile, two cases of foreigners bringing the virus into Thailand in the past few days have sparked concern among investors of a possible second wave of infections in the next two or three weeks, the analyst said.
In addition, the analyst noted the crude oil price had fallen amid a rumour that the Opec+ grouping is considering increasing production tomorrow (July 15).
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were STGT, STA, CPF, EA, PTL, AOT, PTT, KBANK, CPALL, and BBL.
As of 5pm, the price of crude oil had dropped by US$0.27 or 0.67 per cent to $39.83per barrel, while gold fell by $15 or 0.83 per cent, to $1,799.10per ounce.
Asian indices all fell today:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 22,587.01 points, down 97.73 points or 0.87 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,414.62 points, down 28.67 points or 0.83 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 13,996.46 points, down 152.68 points or 1.08 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 25,477.89, down 294.23 points, or 1.14 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,183.61, down 2.45 points or 0.11 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 12,209.01, down 2.55 points or 0.021 per cent.