Major stock markets in Asia traded in a mixed session on Monday as U.S. payrolls in December missed expectations and the discovery of a new Covid-19 strain in Cyprus.
On January 10, 2022, SET Index opened at 1,660.75 points, increased 3.13 points or 0.19%.
As of 10:18 local time in Thailand, Nikkei dipped 0.03%, SSEC gained 0.12%, Hang Seng Index increased 0.81%, ASX 200 slipped 0.23% and IDX Composite rose 0.22%.
The U.S. payrolls in December rose by 199,000, according to The Labor Department on its monthly job report, which was sharply missing the 400,000 jobs forecast by Refinitiv and slower than revised gains of 249,000 in November and 648,000 in October. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, dropped from 4.2% to 3.9% in December, the lowest level since the pandemic began in 2020.
Meanwhile, Cyprus has discovered a new coronavirus strain that is a combination of the delta and omicron variant called deltacron. Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus said that deltacron has omicron-like genetic signatures within the delta genomes. Still, it is too early to tell the impact or severity from this new variant.
Mr. Ekpawin Suntarapichard, investment strategist of the Siam Commercial Bank Securities (SCBS), through “Kaohoon Jor Talad Program” on January 10, 2022, stated that the negativity from rising Covid-19 cases still weighed on the market. However, the market would remain resilient due to familiarity with the situation while the vaccination in Thailand is at a higher level and primarily fatality reports of omicron cases are low, which could lead to a sideways-up trend in today’s session.
As for today’s investment theme, Mr. Suntarapichard recommended stocks that will benefit from rising meat prices such as GFPT, TFG and TU. Meanwhile, the banking sector is still attractive for an entry when the index edges lower, seeing the rate hikes and lower provision to support its performance, recommending KBANK and BBL.
GULF and GPSC are recommended in anticipation of increasing electricity prices to offset the rising natural gas price and TVO is recommended for rising soybean prices.
On the overall outlook, the strategist expected SET Index to be able to reach 1,700 points with a support level at 1,640-1,650 points.
