The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) continued its climb yesterday by jumping another 1.34% to close at 1,078.66 points yesterday, in heavy trade worth 42 billion baht.
The performance was in line with a surge in regional markets driven by a drop in US unemployment figures and massive foreign inflows.
Foreign investors were net buyers at 4.82 billion baht, institutional investors net sellers at 369 million and individual investors net sellers at 4.86 billion.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 1.46%, the Shanghai Composite by 1.34%, the Taiwan Stock Exchange by 0.25% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 by 0.11%.
Last Friday, the US Labour Department reported unemployment fell to 8.8%, the lowest level since March 2009.
The most active stocks on the Thai bourse in recent weeks have been large caps, as they are preferred by foreign investors.
Chai Chirasevenupraphund, the head of research at Capital Nomura Securities, credited the continuation of net inflows by foreign investors to psychological sentiment, which has encouraged retail investors to jump into the game.
“Last week, energy stocks such as PTT, PTTEP and banking stocks such as BBL, KBANK and SCB were among the most active. But this week, we’ve started seeing some stocks including IRPC and KTB begin to move,” he said.
Mr Chai said that fundamentally, the rise in prices of energy stocks is being supported by the rise in the global oil price, while the prices of banking stocks are being driven by dividend payments.
He added that the index may show a correction as investors take profits. The support level should not be less than 1,065 points, while the resistance level should be 1,087 points.
But Noppadol Piriyawut, Thanachart Securities’ assistant vice-president for research, advised investors to take profits on short-term prospects.
“The SET index has surged about 80 points, almost 10% from 996 at the start of this year. It’s quite high now, so investors should gradually take profits,” he said.
The index could reach 1,200-1,300 points in the medium term, Mr Noppadol added.
Source: Bangkok Post
