Thai stocks plummet nearly 4% in Monday SET trading

The Stock Exchange of Thailand finished yesterday at 1,435.56 points, a decrease of 59.5 points, or nearly 4% – that’s compared to Friday’s close on the SET. The daily trade volume for Monday was 76.431 billion baht, with an index high of 1,474.12 and a low of 1,435.56.

Asian bourses were hammered as confidence was inhibited by rising cases of the Covid-19 outbreak outside of China, with risk-averse sentiment sending gold prices to a seven-year high.

Krungsri Securities expected the SET Index to fall to between 1,475 and 1,480 points due to investors remaining at risk after the virus situation worsened and South Korea began tackling the situation at the highest level, according to The Nation.

The top ten stocks with the highest trade value today were CRC, Gulf, AOT, PTT, CPAll, BAM, KBANK, SCB, PTTEP, and Advanc.

Elsewhere in Asia, China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,031.23, down 8.44 points, or 0.3%, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index ended the day at 11,772.38, up 142.68 points, or 1.23%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed at 26,820.88, down 487.93 points, or 1.8%. South Korea’s Kospi ended at 2,079.04, down 83.80 points, or nearly 4%. Taiwan’s TaiEx closed at 11,534.87, down 151.48 points, or 1.3%. Japan’s Nikkei Index was closed yesterday.

Meanwhile, in better economic news, exports for January 2020 unexpectedly rose according to ministry figures. It’s the first rise in six months, and an increase of 3.35% from the exports 12 months earlier.

The customs-cleared export numbers were boosted by higher shipments of gold and oil-related products, accord to an update from the commerce ministry. Reuters economic writers had earlier forecast a fall of 3% in shipments for the first month for the year, against December’s drop of 1.28%. January’s export figures are not affected by the outbreak of a coronavirus..

SOURCE: The Nation