Despite financial volatility, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index could peak at 1,910 points this year, buoyed by strong earnings of listed companies, says the Investment Analysts Association (IAA).
Earnings per share (EPS) for this year are projected at 111.53 baht, up 11.7% from last year, while the year-end SET index is forecast at 1,871 points, according to the IAA.
BBL, CPALL, KBANK, and PTTGC were identified as attractive stocks.
The SET recently announced last year's combined net profit for 566 listed companies on the SET and the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) as 990 billion baht, up 8.9% year-on-year.
Total net profit of SET-listed firms was 982 billion baht, up 9.1%, while total net profit for MAI-listed firms was 5 billion, down 13.5%.
The Thai bourse's bull run resurfaced Monday as the benchmark index closed at 1,800.32 points, up 1.4% from Friday's closing, in trade volume worth 64.14 billion baht.
Institutional investors were net buyers of 5.4 billion baht, with foreign investors purchasing 631.9 million worth of shares. On the other hand, retail investors were net sellers of 5 billion baht and brokerage firms sold 1 billion baht.
Monday's market rally was in line with the trend seen among other Asian markets, where Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose by 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.9%.
Investors' optimistic sentiment was buoyed by solid data in US job growth in addition to an earlier report
Paiboon Nalinthrangkurn
that US President Donald Trump was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks.
The global stock markets, however, remain volatile this year as both financial and political factors could rattle investor confidence, said IAA chairman Paiboon Nalinthrangkurn.
The most contentious factors in the short run are the US Federal Reserve's interest rate normalisation, US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs, geo-political risks and Thailand's general election timeline, said Mr Paiboon.
Global economic growth recovery and how Thailand's general election is slated to occur next year are deemed as long-term positive factors, he said.
"Market conditions at the end of a bullish cycle have high volatility. The Dow Jones index and other stock markets have experienced this [correction]," said Mr Paiboon.
Meanwhile, investor confidence in March has fallen, but remains in bullish territory for the fourth consecutive month, said Kirati Kosicharoen, representative of the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations (Fetco).
The Fetco investor confidence index (ICI) for the next three months stands at 143.09, within the ICI's bullish range of 120–160, but falling by 8.70% from the previous month's level of 156.62.
The petrochemicals and chemicals sector is seen as providing the most attractive investments, while the banking sector draws the least interest, said Mr Kirati.
Robust performance of listed companies is a positive factor for the domestic stock market, while domestic political developments tend to dampen investor confidence, he said.
"At the beginning of February, the SET index fell to a low of 1,758.31 points, having been impacted by the US stock market, which dropped more than 1,000 points in a single day," said Mr Kirati.
"The SET index gradually increased throughout February, reaching levels close to January's index range of 1,820-1,830 points."