Asia Wealth Securities (AWS) expected the SET to continue moving in a sideway to sideway up range in a range of 1,625-1,650 points in response to the positive sentiment on the Treasury’s outlook for the economy in 2022. This is consistent with the previous BoT, including positive data that has reduced concerns about the Omicron. This makes the attractiveness of stocks in an opening country, including shares in the banking group that is return to investment attractive.
For the main investment strategy, AWS weighed only 50% of the portfolio, with a strong focus on domestic play stocks and laggard stocks, but with strong 4Q21 to 1Q22 earnings as a supporting factor.
The securities company wrote further that the research indicates that Omicron is not severe, supporting opening country stocks, choosing AOT, AAV, ERW, PTG, PLANB, CPALL, LH and AMATA as top picks.
There are two factors mitigating Omicron outbreak concerns (1) Imperial College London research results, University of Edinburgh of Scotland and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases of South Africa going in the same direction by identifying the risk that the patient is infected with the COVID-19 virus Omicron species must be admitted to the hospital and the risk of severe disease is lower than Delta species patient and (2) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Molnupiravir from Merck’s as a drug to treat COVID-19 patients. It is the second drug to be approved for use in the U.S. after Pfizer’s Paxlovid.
AWS viewed it as a positive sentiment on investment stocks and buyback in the opening country sector, including shares in the aviation sector (AOT, BAFS, AAV and BA), shares in the hotel group (ERW, CENTEL, MINT and VRANDA), shares in the gas station group (OR, PTG, and SUSCO), stocks in entertainment (VGI, PLANB, WORK and BEC), food stocks (M, MUD, AU and SORKON), commercial stocks (CPALL, CRC, CPN and BJC), property development stocks (WHA, AMATA, LH, ORI and NOBLE.
