Recap: Global bourses were battered this week as the Covid-19 pandemic and plunging oil prices prompted panic-selling worldwide, with a circuit breaker triggered for Thailand's stock market on Thursday and Friday.
The return on US stocks since Donald Trump's presidential election win in 2016 has slumped to 24% thanks to the historic rout over the past three weeks, Bloomberg reported.
The SET index moved in a range of 969.08 and 1,299.77 points this week before closing at 1,128.91, down 17.3% from the previous week, in heavy turnover averaging 94 billion baht a day.
Retail investors were net buyers of 32.9 billion baht. Foreign investors were net sellers of 24.7 billion baht, brokerage firms sold 4.7 billion and institutional investors offloaded 3.4 billion worth of shares.
Newsmakers: US President Donald Trump announced a 30-day ban on all passenger air travel from Europe, except the UK. All major US professional sports leagues suspended play after a National Basketball Association player tested positive for the virus.
- Oil prices crashed more than 30% after the breakup of the Opec+ alliance triggered an all-out price war, with both Russia and Saudi Arabia poised to flood the market with cheap oil.
- The UK government has outlined a 30-billion-pound spending spree, using borrowing helped by rock-bottom interest rates, in response to the coronavirus threat. The Bank of England also delivered an emergency interest-rate cut.
- Argentina has finalised a proposal to restructure $69 billion in public debt, hoping to delay the maturity of some institutional loans and reduce the sum owed to private creditors.
- Cathay Pacific said profits plunged in 2019 as it reeled from political unrest in Hong Kong, while it warned of further financial losses ahead linked to virus-constrained travel.
- Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak said a 30-billion-baht fund to support the virus-battered stock market would be proposed to the prime minister on Monday.
- Thai Airways president Sumet Damrongchaitham resigned on Thursday amid reports that his plans to deal with the coronavirus and rehabilitate the flagging airline were rejected by the carrier's board.
- Suthirawat Suwanawat, general manager of Suvarnabhumi airport, also quit, reportedly to show responsibility for a flawed screening process that allowed some 80 Thai returnees from hard-hit South Korean to slip through.
- Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group said its board had approved a deal to acquire 86.9% of the Thai business of Tesco and 100% of the UK retailer's Malaysian business in a deal valued at US$10.6 billion. The expansion of a retail empire that already includes 12,000 7-Eleven stores and 130-odd Makro outlets will be a major test of the country's supposedly tougher new competition law and the Office of Trade Competition.
- The Department of Disease Control plans to impose compulsory measures for all inbound arrivals, including the collection of personal information and contact information such as mobile phone numbers and email addresses as part of steps to control the Covid-19 outbreak.
- Tourist arrivals fell 44.3% in February from a year earlier, while the prospect of postponing Songkran to July is being considered, the Tourism Authority of Thailand said.
- Consumer confidence plunged to an almost 21-year low in February as people remain gravely concerned about the coronavirus, compounded by widespread drought, the delayed fiscal 2020 budget, the domestic economic slowdown and serious air pollution.
- Business sentiment plunged to a 27-month low in February amid the escalating Covid-19 outbreak. The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said the confidence index dipped to 44.9 last month from 45.4 in January.
- Steel manufacturers expect domestic steel consumption in 2020 will decrease to 15-16 million tonnes from 17-18 million last year, mainly because of lower economic activity because of the Covid-19 outbreak and the drought.
- Advertising spending is expected to fall by 4.4% to 117 billion baht this year, the first ever decline, weighed down by the virus outbreak and economic slump, says the Media Agency Association of Thailand.
- The cabinet has approved more measures, including allowing investors to receive an additional tax break up to 200,000 baht of annual income, separate from the tax-deductible amount applied to retirement-related funds, for units of the Super Savings Fund (SSF), of which 65% of is invested in SET-listed securities.
- The Excise Department has temporarily exempted tax levied on pure alcohol while the government has unlocked the requirement to free 3 million litres of alcohol left over from energy usage to encourage the manufacture of alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
- Krungsri Finnovate, the corporate venture capital arm of Bank of Ayudhya, has invested an undisclosed sum in Grab and will collaborate to provide financial services on the super-app.
- SET-listed B.Grimm Power Plc says it has nearly closed several merger and acquisition deals for some small power producer (SPP) assets, including two or three foreign SPP operators with a combined capacity of almost 400 megawatts.
- BG Container Glass (BGC), the country's largest glass container packaging manufacturer, has allocated 3 billion baht to acquire three firms in the glass container packaging chain and another three renewable energy firms.
Coming up: Britain will release February unemployment data on Tuesday, with Germany releasing March economic sentiment and the US announcing February retail sales the same day.
- Japan will release February trade figures on Wednesday and Canada will release February inflation data.
- The US Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision on Thursday and Japan will release February inflation data. China will announce its one-year loan prime rate on Friday.
Stocks to watch: Asia Plus Securities recommends high-dividend stocks that have shown strong and continuous dividend payments during the past 12 years. Suggested picks are MCS, LH, PYLON, BBL, PTT, INTUCH, TU, RATCH, ADVANC, CPF, TOP and CPALL.
Bualuang Securities recommends consumer stocks such as OSP, CPALL and CBG, as well as GULF and BTS. Recommended high dividend yield stocks are ADVANC and JASIF. Stocks benefiting from low interest rates are MTC and SAWAD, while TQM is poised to benefit from a rise in life insurance applications amid coronavirus concerns.
Technical view: SCB Securities sees support at 1,000 points and resistance at 1,200. KTB Securities Thailand sees support at 950 and resistance at 1,200.
