SET falls, ignores ending of curfew

SET falls, ignores ending of curfew

The Stock Exchange of Thailand index plunges on Friday despite the decision to end the curfew from Monday. (Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya)
The Stock Exchange of Thailand index plunges on Friday despite the decision to end the curfew from Monday. (Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya)

The Thai stock market continued the slide off its bull run earlier this month as lower crude prices and Wall Street’s nosedive hit sentiment, brushing off the end of the night curfew from next Monday.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index plunged by 14.21 points (1.02%) to 1,382.56 points in turnover of 85 billion baht at the close.

Large-cap shares of SET-listed companies operating in the energy sector plunged considerably, with PTTGC shares falling 2.6%, followed by PTTEP (2.6%) and PTT (3.2%).

A resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the US and a gloomy economic forecast from the US Federal Reserve stoked renewed fears, resulting in oil price turbulence and a slump in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The second wave of the pandemic is emerging as the number of infected patients globally continues to increase from the previous week, especially in the US, said Paradorn Tiaranapramote, fundamental investment analyst at Asia Plus Securities.

Investors have not responded well to the Fed’s announcement of using an ultra-low monetary policy through 2022, with the US stock market still facing profit-taking selling pressure, said Mr Paradorn.

For the SET index, there is still no significant driver to boost investors’ sentiment, while institutional investors may embark on equity sell-off to take profit, he said.

Net foreign fund inflows are still weak despite a month-to-date net inflows worth 5.8 billion baht as of June11.

The government’s announcement of the end of the enforced curfew on June 15 and the fourth phase of easing of lockdown measures did little to shore up confidence, said Mr Paradorn.

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