1) KSS expects weak movement in SET Index amid economic slowdown and central banks rate hikes
Krungsri Securities (KSS) expected a weak movement in Thailand’s SET Index to the range of 1,530-1,520 points in concerns of the economic slowdown as the market expects Fed, BoE and ECB will raise interest rates in the meeting in May. The consumer confidence in the U.S. also edged lower. Meanwhile, weaker crude oil prices will pressure the Thai market as well.
2) US stocks futures rise after earlier rout in normal trading hours
Stock futures in Wall Street edged higher, buoyed by the tech sector after a rout in the normal trading hours on Tuesday from the pressure of the banking crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 1.2% on the back of the big tech earnings reports that beat expectations.
At the closing on Tuesday, Dow Jones dropped 1%, while the S&P 500 plunged 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 2%.
The decline in Wall Street came after the report from the First Republic Bank, saying that its deposits fell by around 100 billion dollars, raising concerns in the market about the banking crisis.
3) US big tech earnings
Microsoft Q3 FY23 EPS +10% to $2.45 vs $0.22 expected. Revenue +7% YoY to $52.9 billion vs by $1.9 billion expected. The company expected AI technology will drive growth. Q4 expects Azure to grow by 26.5% beats estimates by 150 bps.
Alphabet Q1 earnings down 4.9% to $1.17 but still higher than $1.07 expected by consensus. Also notably, Google cloud just reported its first profitable quarter, generating a $191 million profit, compared to $706 million of loss last year. Google Cloud revenue was 7.45 billion, up 28% YoY and in line with expectations.
