Rate cut, higher crude oil price inject positive sentiment in Thai stock market
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index opened at 1,329.64, up 7.44 points, or 0.56 per cent, on Thursday (May 21) morning.
A Krungsri Securities stock analyst expected the index to rise to between 1,330 and 1,335 before falling.
The market gained positive sentiment from the rising crude oil price, hopes of the US Federal Reserve issuing additional economic stimulus measures to mitigate the Covid-19 impact, and the Thai Monetary Policy Committee's move to cut the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to 0.5 per cent.
“The price of crude oil rose to over US$33 per barrel after US crude stockpiles dropped by 5 million barrels,” the stock analyst said.
However, the analyst advised investors to beware of mass sell-offs in stocks as the index’s price to earnings rose to over 17 times and banks’ net interest margin is likely to drop in line with interest rate.
The analyst recommended investors to buy these stocks:
● Energy stocks, such as PTT, PTTEP, TOP, PTTGC, IRPC and SPRC, due to a rise in the price of crude oil.
● Financial stocks, such as KTC, SAWAD, MTC, JMT and BAM, due to a drop in interest cost.
● Stocks whose second quarter performance would improve, such as CKP, TASCO, STA and EPG.
