Thai stocks gain on hopes of Covid-19 antiviral drug, but situation still worrisome

By The Nation

 

 

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index on Friday (March 20) recovered due to hopes from China’s move to produce Favipiravir, an antiviral drug able to cure Covid-19 virus, and investors making a short covering to buy back stocks, Sunthorn Thongthip, strategist at Kasikorn Securities said.

 

 

The SET Index yesterday closed at 1,127.24, up 83.05 points or 7.95 per cent with total transactions worth Bt93.027 billion.

 

He said that at the same time, central banks worldwide had tried to inject liquidity into the monetary system and issued various measures to mitigate the Covid-19 impact, resulting in hopes for the market.

 

“Currently, the market hopes that the number of infected people would decline after the antiviral drug goes under production,” he said.

 

“We expect that the recovery of the market this time would be able to maintain at this level for one or two weeks to see the situation from now on meets expectations.”

 

He advised investors not to buy back stocks when stock prices begin to rise.

 

“Although the production of the antiviral drug has started, as long as there is no vaccine or the number of infected people remains very high, the chance of severe volatility is still possible,” he said.

 

“Investors who have previously held shares or have gained profit from buying stocks when its prices fell into the buy zone, may consider reducing their portfolios and holding cash to wait and see the situation again.”

 

He added that the antiviral drug currently being produced seemed to have a 30 per cent curing record, so one cannot be sure that the situation will be resolved.

 

“Meanwhile, economic activity has still not fully recovered, causing the SET Index to face difficulty in recovering to the level between 1,400 and 1,500,” he added.

 

“We estimate the index’s resistance level at 1,165, while the index is expected to swing between1,100 and 1,200 for a while.”

A stock analyst at Tisco Securities warned investors to be careful since the index had a tendency to fall.

 

“The index rebounded sharply at close on Friday, but the Covid-19 situation could be more severe because the disease is still spreading in Europe and Thailand,” the stock analyst said. “We estimate that the index would move at between 1,070 and 1,200.”

 

Gold price was at US$1,505.20 per ounce, while its price in Thailand was Bt23,200 per baht weight.

 

A strategist at YLG Bullion International said that the Mayor of Los Angeles city had issued an emergency order "Safer at Home", while the number of infected people in the US surpassed 13,000, having a negative sentiment on gold price.

 

“Initially, if the price is not able to rise above the resistance level at US$1,523 per ounce, the gold price would gradually weaken again,” the strategist said.

 

“We evaluate the support level in the range of between US$1,451 and US$1,445 per ounce.”

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30384567

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-03-22

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After they see the figures for the newly afflicted over the weekend it will be on its way down again !

It will go pretty much down next week.Classic bear market.I stop to trade at all on SET .Cash matters only now.Index will go bellow 1000 soon from my pint of view.

And they are getting the anti-viral from China? For real? Does anyone here have a clue why so many died in Italy? 95% roughly had pre-existing health issues all on heavy doses of daily meds ( big Pharma ) and given anti-virals made them croak. Sheesh.

P.S. elderly to boot!!!

Cash is king now, then Bitcoin.

It ain't curing anything, it may speed up recovery. The difference is day and night. Being daft as a trader is a surefire recipe to loosing your shirt.

These people, who speculate on people dying or not to make more money, always amaze me. I miss Bob Hawke.

15 hours ago, nervona81732 said:

And they are getting the anti-viral from China? For real? Does anyone here have a clue why so many died in Italy? 95% roughly had pre-existing health issues all on heavy doses of daily meds ( big Pharma ) and given anti-virals made them croak. Sheesh.

You are right my friend. 95% in italy had pre-existing health conditions Why does the media not report this

8 hours ago, Boomer6969 said:

These people, who speculate on people dying or not to make more money, always amaze me. I miss Bob Hawke.

They are the same people who provide pharmaceutical companies with the required liquidity to find a solution. There is more profit to be made if more people stay alive.