The Baht hit a 5-week high while the SET surged at the end of the week in line with other regional markets

• The Thai stock market surged at the end of the week in line with other regional stock markets as the Fed signals that interest rate cuts are on the horizon.

        The SET dropped early in the week amid continued sell-offs of foreign investors, after the end of the 4Q-23 earnings announcement period and there were still lack of new supporting factors. However, the SET started to rebound around midweek, after having dropped for 7 consecutive trading days with the support of stock buyback. The SET surged further at the end of the week in line with other regional stock markets, as the Fed Chairman signaled that interest rates cuts may not be too far off if inflation signals cooperate, despite having not provided an exact timeline for rate cuts. This week, Thai stocks rose across all sectors especially at the end of the week, led by finance stocks, thanks to the downward trend in interest rates, plus technology and energy stocks.
        On Friday, March 8, 2024, the SET closed at 1,386.42 points, up 1.39% over-week. The average daily trading value was THB40,153.90 million, down 31.43% over-week. The mai closed at 410.15 points, down 0.75% over-week.

• March 11-15, 2024, KSecurities expects the SET to have support at 1,375 and 1,355 points, but resistance at 1,400 and 1,415 points, respectively. KResearch views that key matter to watch includes foreign fund flows. The US economic data that warrant close monitoring include February CPI, PPI, Retail Sales, Industrial Production, plus Weekly Jobless Claims. Close attention must also be paid to January Industrial Production of Eurozone and UK, Japan’s February PPI, plus China’s February New Yuan Loans.