Major stock markets in Asia traded higher on Wednesday as investors monitored oil prices after an unexpected draw from U.S. inventories and also continued to assess the outlook for the Federal Reserve policy rate.
As of 10:10 local time in Thailand, Nikkei rose 2.66%, SSEC gained 0.36%, Hang Seng Index increased 1.97%, ASX 200 advanced 0.37% while IDX Composite dripped 0.083%.
Thailand’s SET Index opened at 1,685.45 points, increased 7.58 points or 0.45%.
U.S. crude stockpiles dropped sharply last week by 4.3 million barrels, snapping two-weeks of gains from fears of a supply shortage over Russia sanctions. The drop was higher than a 3.8 million barrels draw a week prior and a forecast of a build of about 25,000 barrels by economists.
Mr. Chaiyot Jiwangkul, Assistant Director of Krungsri Securities (KSS, through “Kaohoon Jor Talad Program” on March 23, 2022, stated that the easing pressure in the stock market after Fed’s aggressive stance on policy rate was due to speculation that a fast rate hike would curb its inflation rate, resulting in positive movement in the stock market.
As for the S&P Global cutting Thai banking stocks rating, Mr. Jiwangkul stated that the overall economic outlook remains positive, seeing domestic manufacturing production growth as well as consumption. If the Thai economy continues to grow, loan growth will accelerate, while NPLs will slow down, which makes Thai banking stocks attractive. Moreover, the share price of banking stocks also made a slight retreat in the past few days, Thus, Mr. Jiwangkul sees a chance for short-term speculation.
