RECAP: The SET Index surged at midweek after listed firms reported record-high second-quarter earnings of 350 billion baht, reviving investor confidence, before easing back on profit-taking yesterday. US equities were rangebound, reflecting mixed opinions on economic data and uncertainty about the size of the Fed's next interest-rate increase.
The SET Index moved in a range of 1,617.00 and 1,642.17 points this week before closing yesterday at 1,625.92, down 0.62% from the previous week, in daily turnover averaging 74.32 billion baht. As of Thursday, foreign investors were net buyers of 22.6 billion baht and institutional investors bought 2.5 billion. Brokerage firms were net sellers of 3.1 billion and retail investors sold 21.9 billion baht worth of shares.
NEWSMAKERS: Thai and foreign companies filed 784 applications for investment promotion in the first six months of 2022, up 4% from a year ago, but combined investment value fell 42% to 219.7 billion baht, according to the Board of Investment. The automotive and digital sectors saw the highest growth.
COMING UP: China will update its one- and five-year prime lending rates on Monday. The euro zone will report July preliminary manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI and the US will report July new home sales on Wednesday. On Thursday, the US will report July durable goods orders, and the Fed will open its annual Jackson Hole meeting, attracting economists and central bankers from around the world.
Stocks to Watch: Capital Nomura Securities recommends stocks that will gain from the tourism recovery, especially hospitality firms. Its investment theme for next week comprises four groups: Defensive stocks with growth potential such as BDMS, BCH and CHG; high-growth and tech firms that rely on domestic demand such as JMT, SINGER, CHAYO, BE8, BBIK and IIG; consumer stocks that stand to gain as inflation eases, such as ADVANC, TIDLOR, INTUCH, DTAC, CPALL, MAKRO, CRC, HMPRO, ILM, KTC and SNNP; and anti-commodity stocks that benefit from lower oil prices, such as SCGP, GPSC, BGRIM, BCPG, CBG, SCC, TOA, EPG, GULF and SAPPE.
Technical view: Capital Nomura sees support at 1,614 points and resistance 1,650. SCB Securities sees support at 1,618 and resistance at 1,650.
ANG THONG: Officials in Pa Mok district have called for the inspection of a recently constructed flood wall found to have seams stuffed with plywood covered in a thin layer of silicone.
MEXICO CITY: Authorities in Mexico have arrested a former attorney general who led a widely discredited investigation into the disappearance of 43 students in 2014 — one of the country’s worst human rights tragedies.
Six Hong Kong residents who belonged to a pro-independence student group pleaded guilty on Saturday to charges of subverting the state under a Beijing-drafted security law, according to the local media outlet HK01.