Recap: Global stock indices were mixed as investors saw the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep its policy interest rate unchanged for the rest of this year as good news and bad news. The bad news is that economic growth is weakening. Brexit confusion also rattled markets, but the SET gained despite concern about the outcome of tomorrow's election.
The SET index moved in a range of 1,612.85 and 1,646.94 points before closing at 1,646.29, up 1.3% from the previous week, in turnover averaging 39.51 billion baht a day.
Institutional investors were net buyers of 7.8 billion baht. Retail investors were net sellers of 6.7 billion baht, while brokerage firms sold 848.6 million and foreign investors unloaded 290 million worth of shares.
Newsmakers: US and Chinese officials will resume face-to-face trade talks in Beijing next Thursday and Friday, but administration officials are signalling that a deal could still be a few weeks away. President Trump has said he wants to ensure that any deal is fully enforceable.
The US Federal Reserve took markets by surprise by saying it does not expect to raise interest rates again this year amid slower economic growth.
Germany will hold an auction on Tuesday for a 5G mobile network, amid increasing pressure from the United States on its allies to block the Chinese equipment maker Huawei from any such projects on security grounds.
The EU has extended Britain's departure date to May 22 if Prime Minister Theresa May can persuade parliamentarians next week to approve the Brexit deal they have already rejected twice. If she cannot win a parliamentary vote, the exit date will be moved up to April 12, unless Mrs May can propose a better idea before then.
Paris is now tied with Singapore and Hong Kong as the world's priciest city for expatriates, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. The cheapest is Caracas, the capital of failing Venezuela.
Germany's two biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, will hold formal talks about a merger. A merger could result in massive cost savings, in particular by closing branches. But critics say integration would be complicated and risky.
The EU has fined Google €1.49 billion for blocking rival online search advertisers. It is the third EU fine for the search and advertising giant in two years.
The Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek lost an appeal on Tuesday against the Philippines' decision to deny it a licence due to its failure to meet local ownership criteria, in a major blow to its Southeast Asia expansion plans.
The Federation of Thai Industries says the campaign promises by many political parties to raise the minimum wage to 400 baht a day or more, from a top rate of 330 baht now, are unrealistic. It said small and medium-sized enterprises would suffer the most as the hikes would cause big changes in the employment market.
Business confidence recovered in February, boosted by enthusiasm about the election and the return of Chinese tourists. The Thai Chamber of Commerce confidence index edged up to 48.5 points after dipping to 48 in January.
Foreign funds are projected to return to Thailand's stock market after the election brings more clarity to domestic politics, says Asia Plus Securities.
Exports rose unexpectedly by 5.9% last month to US$21.55 billion. However, the figure was skewed by one-off shipments of hardware that had been brought in for the Cobra Gold military exercises. Without oil-related products, gold and weaponry, export value would have contracted 4.9% from the same month last year.
The Bank of Thailand is less optimistic about the country's economic outlook, trimming its 2019 growth forecast to 3.8% from 4% as export demand is slack, while keeping its policy rate unchanged as widely expected.
Ant Financial Services Group, the online payment arm of Alibaba Group, has called on the Thai government to offer more online services for value-added tax refunds and immigration processing to attract international tourists, particularly Chinese.
Thong Lor, Ramkhamhaeng, Charoen Nakhon, Sam Yan and Talat Phlu will be the top five locations for new condominium launches this year despite concern over the market outlook, according to Colliers International Thailand.
Honda Automobile Thailand has joined the chorus opposing the government's Eco EV programme, saying the simple and cheap EV technology the government is recommending is not suitable for the Japanese carmaker's vehicles.
Toyota Motor Thailand says it is ready to go ahead with its 10.4-billion-baht eco-car project this year, the deadline for Board of Investment incentives.
Bank of Ayudhya (BAY) expects its commercial loan portfolio to rise by 6.2% to 689 billion baht this year, while deposits outstanding from the segment will jump 10.1% to 287 billion).
PTT Exploration and Production Plc has acquired Murphy Oil Corp in Malaysia in a deal worth US$2.12 billion to strengthen growth in Southeast Asia.
SET-listed developer Eastern Star Real Estate Plc (ESTAR) plans to launch five new projects worth a combined 4 billion baht in Bangkok and Rayong, aiming to have 3 billion in presales by year-end.
Coming up: Germany will release the March business sentiment reading on Monday and consumer confidence on Tuesday.
Canada and the US will release January trade figures on Wednesday. On Thursday, the EU will release March business confidence and Germany will announce March inflation.
Britain will release March consumer confidence on Friday. The US will also release January personal spending and February personal income the same day.
Stocks to watch: SCB Securities expects more SET volatility during the immediate post-election period. It recommends consumer, commerce and industrial estate stocks poised to benefit from the election including BJC, CPALL, GLOBAL and AMATA. Energy and petrochemical stocks are projected to benefit from an increase in oil prices, among them PTTEP, TOP, IRPC and PTTGC.
Tisco Securities recommends an election rally theme based on stocks benefiting from domestic consumption and local media. Recommended stocks are CPALL, BJC, AEONTS, VGI and PLANB. Stocks sensitive to domestic political factors are STEC, PR9 and SC. Stocks expected to produce dividend yields of at least 3%, with payouts over the next two months, include ANAN, AP, JMT, LH,QH, ROJNA, VNT and WHAUP.
Technical view: Maybank Kim Eng Securities Thailand sees support at 1,623 points and resistance at 1,660. Finansia Syrus Securities sees support at 1,620 points and resistance at 1,675.