Shares rebound as energy supply concerns ease

Recap: Global shares rebounded yesterday as concerns over energy supplies eased while investors awaited second-quarter economic data and corporate earnings.

The SET index moved in a range of 1,520.77 and 1,556.26 points this week before closing yesterday at 1,552.73, up 1.26% from the previous week, in daily turnover averaging 55.61 billion baht.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 889.32 million baht, brokerage firms bought 260.74 million baht and institutional investors purchased 200.18 million baht worth of shares. Retail investors were net sellers of 1.35 billion baht.

• The euro was headed for its best week since May after the European Central Bank raised interest rates more than expected on Thursday, in its first such move since 2011.
• The Asian Development Bank on Thursday slashed its 2022 growth forecast for developing Asia and warned economic conditions could worsen, as the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions drive up prices.
• The Indian rupee fell to more than 80 per US dollar for the first time on record on Tuesday, as the greenback extended its rally and foreign capital outflows intensified.
• China's banking regulator has urged lenders to extend more credit to real estate developers, as a growing number of homebuyers withhold mortgage payments on unfinished housing projects across 50 cities.
• The Central Bank of Myanmar's order for companies and individual borrowers to suspend repayment of foreign loans is unlikely to have a significant impact on Thai exports, local experts say.
• Singapore intends to broaden the scope of cryptocurrency regulations and pushed back against claims that some recently collapsed digital-asset outfits were regulated in the city-state.
• Indonesia has urged tech companies to register under new licensing rules, or run the risk of having their platforms blocked. Many big names including Google and Meta missed the July 20 deadline to comply.
• Twitter will get an October trial date in its legal fight to hold billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk to his $44-billion takeover, after a Delaware judge said the social media company deserved a quick resolution of the uncertainty surrounding the deal.
• Tesla reported solid quarterly earnings on Wednesday despite a hit from Covid lockdowns in Shanghai that chief executive Elon Musk said prompted the company to liquidate most of its bitcoin holdings.
• Bitcoin rebounded after a brief sell-off late on Wednesday sparked by news that Tesla had sold about 75% of its holdings of the virtual token. The world's largest cryptocurrency was trading just above $23,000 early yesterday.
• Netflix suffered two consecutive quarters of subscriber losses for the first time in its history, but it expects key steps including a new ad-supported service and an end to password sharing would improve performance starting next year.
• China has fined the ride-hailing giant Didi more than 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), concluding a year-long investigation into alleged data security violations.
• Gold prices fell to their lowest in nearly a year, weighed down by the prospects of more interest rate increases by major central banks to tackle soaring inflation. Spot gold was quoted as low as $1,689.40 in New York early Thursday.
• Financial analysts estimate investors in Thailand could lose up to 5 billion baht in digital assets if the local exchange Zipmex fails to resolve the problems that led it to suspend withdrawals this week amid mounting trouble in the global crypto industry.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to tighten supervision of digital-asset firms by amending regulations approved in 2018, secretary-general Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol told Bloomberg on Thursday.
• The Bank of Thailand (BoT) will ensure the economic recovery is not interrupted by efforts to tackle higher inflation, governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said on Wednesday, amid expectations of an interest-rate hike at the Aug 10 policy meeting.
• Kasikornbank forecasts the baht will weaken more than previously projected because of the large US interest-rate increases.
• The Board of the Oil Fuel Fund on Tuesday agreed to maintain subsidised diesel prices at 35 baht per litre for the fifth week to help keep down the cost of living.
• Tourism revenue this year may total 1.2 trillion baht, below the government's target of 1.5 trillion, if there are no additional support or stimulus schemes as the fiscal budget for tourism in 2023 has been cut heavily, according to Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakan.
• Industrial sentiment picked up for the first time in three months in June thanks to an easing of Covid restrictions and improved economic activity, the Federation of Thai Industries said on Wednesday.
• The cabinet has approved a public-private partnership deal worth 3.2 billion baht to manage the Map Ta Phut Industrial Port in Rayong province.
• The combined market for marijuana and hemp in Thailand will expand by about 15% annually and reach reach 43 billion baht by 2025, creating opportunities for growers and small businesses, according to the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce.
• The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) has received cabinet approval to seek loans worth 7.5 billion baht to keep liquidity at an acceptable level.
• Digital lending platforms run by the large commercial banking groups Kasikornbank (KBank) and SCB X are posting strong growth, in line with changing consumer behaviour.
• Bitkub, the country's largest digital asset exchange, has joined with Circle, a peer-to-peer payment platform developer, to promote the digital stablecoin USDC in Thailand.
• The retail property developer Central Pattana Plc (CPN) is preparing its biggest residential expansion in five years with 50 more projects worth 40 billion baht, in a bid to achieve synergy with the overall Central group.
• SET-listed Singer Thailand, the country's largest hire-purchase firm, is transforming into a holding company to allow it to invest in a variety of product categories to raise sales and reduce risk.
• The US coffee chain Starbucks looks set to open 30 new coffee shops in Thailand per year from 2022-24 to sustain business growth.

Coming up: Germany will release the July business climate index on Monday. The US will release June new home sales and July consumer confidence on Tuesday.

• Australia will release second-quarter inflation on Wednesday. The US will release June core durable goods orders, pending home sales and crude oil inventories. The US Federal Reserve will announce its interest-rate decision early Thursday Thailand time, followed by preliminary US second-quarter GDP. Australia will release June retail sales.
• The euro zone will release July inflation and Germany will release second-quarter GDP and July unemployment on Friday. The US will release June personal consumption expenditure and Canada will release May GDP.

Stocks to watch: Capital Nomura Securities recommends defensive stocks with prices below the market average such as ADVANC, TIDLOR, INTUCH, DTAC, SCC, BDMS, BCH and JASIF. Stocks that will benefit from baht depreciation include GFPT, CPF, SAPPE, ASIAN, MEGA, KCE, BDMS and BH. Stocks that will benefit from oil price declines are SCGP, GPSC, BGRIM, CBG and SCC. For a long-term portfolio, the brokerage recommends stocks benefitting from economic reopening with laggard prices such as HMPRO, TIDLOR, CPALL, MAKRO, KTC, MAJOR and BEM.

• SCB Securities recommends defensive stocks with recovery prospects such as BJC, CRC, HMPRO and GULF. Stocks with cheap valuations include IVL, KCE, SCGP and MTC.

Technical view: Capital Nomura sees support at 1,523 points and resistance at 1,559. Maybank Securities sees support at 1,530 and resistance at 1,560.