Bangkok Post SmartEdition

GLOBAL SHARES GAIN AS CHINA PROPERTY JITTERS EASE

RECAP: Global shares advanced to record a third straight week of gains yesterday as worries over the Chinese property market eased, despite growing concerns that persistent inflation could trigger a faster-than-expected tightening of monetary policy.

The SET index moved in a narrow range of 1,627.12 and 1,649.66 points before ending the holiday-shortened week on Thursday at 1,643.42, up 0.31% from the previous week, in daily turnover averaging 79 billion baht.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 8.74 billion baht and brokerage firms bought 206.55 million baht. Institutional investors were net sellers of 6.59 billion baht and retail investors offloaded 2.35 billion baht worth of shares.

NEWSMAKERS: China’s economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter, to just 4.9% year-on-year, as a crackdown on the property sector and a looming energy crisis began to bite.

■ Coal futures in China have shed almost 20% from the record high of 1,982 yuan per tonne touched on Tuesday, after authorities signalled they might intervene in the market to bring down high coal prices as power generation problems persisted.

■ China Evergrande pulled back from the brink of default by making an $83.5-million payment on a bond coupon before this weekend’s deadline. Shares of the embattled property giant rose early yesterday after plunging on Thursday when investors learned that the planned sale of a subsidiary had collapsed.

■ The rising use of cryptocurrencies could undermine the effectiveness of US economic and financial sanctions and potentially dent the role of the American dollar, the Treasury Department said on Monday.

■ Bitcoin hit a new high close to $67,000 on Wednesday, powered by a wave of buying after the first US exchange-traded fund linked to the cryptocurrency started trading. Assets held in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF topped $1.2 billion after just two days.

■ Tesla’s third-quarter profits more than quadrupled on sharply higher sales despite a global semiconductor shortage that has plagued the auto industry. The US electric car company posted a record profit of $1.6 billion as revenues surged 57% year-on-year to $13.8 billion.

■ Nissan is slashing planned global production for October and November by 30%, as it struggles with a shortage of semiconductors. Toyota earlier announced a 15% cut in November output, following reduced global production in September and October.

■ Foreign investment by businesses around the world surged in the first six months of 2021 as rich economies rebounded strongly from the effects of the pandemic, but fresh bets on manufacturing fell despite widespread signs that capacity isn’t up to meeting resurgent demand.

■ Facebook on Monday announced plans to hire 10,000 people in the European Union to build the “metaverse”, a virtual reality version of the internet that the tech giant sees as the future.

■ Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $475 million to US and British authorities to resolve charges of “fraudulently misleading investors” and violating anti-corruption law in the bond offerings in Mozambique, US officials announced Tuesday.

■ Netflix reported $1.4 billion in profit and booming subscriber growth Tuesday that beat forecasts as global hits including the record-smashing Squid Game drew viewers in droves. The streaming service says it now has 222 million customers, 155 million of them outside the United States.

■ The Bank of Thailand has further eased rules on mortgages, raising the loan-to-value ratio to 100%, to help spur the recovery of the property sector from the impacts of the pandemic.

■ The cabinet on Tuesday approved the distribution of a further 54.5 billion baht to help alleviate the hardship of those affected by the prolonged pandemic and to boost domestic consumption.

■ The cabinet also approved a further 92 billion baht in relief measures and a scheme to offer work permits and other perks to foreigners who invest $1 million.

■ The net profits of SETlisted commercial banks will drop by 42.2% to between 32.5 billion and 33.5 billion baht in the third quarter, compared to 57.2 billion in the second quarter, due to the impact of the most recent Covid restrictions, Kasikorn Research Center has estimated.

■ Banks have assured the public that there was no leak of customers’ electronic card details, and that the thousands of people reporting unauthorised transactions had their details stolen by hackers while shopping online. Banks say they will refund the money.

■ The prime minister orders the lifting of the curfew in Bangkok and 16 provinces at the end of the month, ahead of the reopening of the country to vaccinated foreign tourists on Nov 1.

■ Tourism operators anticipate lukewarm travel sentiment as concerns over Covid and weak purchasing power remain key obstacles for domestic trips even after the country opens more widely to tourists on Nov 1.

■ Bangkok, where 70% of the population is now jabbed, is set to reopen to fully vaccinated international visitors with “swab hubs” being set up to test tourists upon their arrival in the capital.

■ The Transport Ministry says it will push ahead with megaprojects in the next fiscal year with the aim of easing traffic congestion and improving road connectivity between Bangkok and surrounding provinces.

■ The price of diesel could be capped at 30 baht a litre at the pump, but cannot go as low as 25 baht demanded by truckers who staged protests this week, Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said.

■ The discontinuation of 30-day passes on the Bangkok skytrain will be a gamechanger for the condo market as stations near workplaces become more attractive, according to Sena Development Plc.

■ Steel consumption in Thailand in the first eight months this year rose by 18.3% yearon-year to 13.1 million tonnes despite the pandemic, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

■ A consortium led by Charoen Pokphand Group will take over the operations of Airport Rail Link (ARL) services on Monday, according to the Department of Rail Transport (DRT).

■ Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya) reported a net profit of 27.41 billion baht for the first nine months of 2021, an increase of 39.5% year-on-year.

■ Kasikorn Business Technology Group has launched Kasikorn X, a venture builder for tech startups aimed at capturing a surging wave of decentralised finance development.

■ Asia Aviation Plc, the operator of the budget carrier Thai AirAsia, plans to raise as much as 17.9 billion baht from new loans, share sales and convertible-debt offerings as it attempts to restock coffers depleted by the worst crisis in aviation history.

COMING UP: Germany will release its closely watched Ifo business climate index on Monday. The US will release October consumer confidence and September new home sales on Tuesday.

■ The US will release September trade figures, durable goods orders and retail inventories, excluding autos, on Wednesday. The Bank of Canada will announce its interest rate decision the same day, followed by the Bank of Japan on Thursday. Also on Thursday, Japan will release September retail sales, Germany will release updated unemployment figures and the US will release third-quarter GDP and September pending home sales.

■ Japan will release September job applications and industrial production data on Friday. Due the same day are September retail sales in Australia, German and Canadian third-quarter GDP, and euro zone October consumer prices.

STOCKS TO WATCH: UOB Kay Hian Securities recommends short-term investment in commodity stocks as a hedge against inflation, among them PTTEP, PTTGC, IVL, TOP and BANPU. Banks and insurance companies, meanwhile, will benefit from rising bond yields such as BBL, KBANK, SCB, BLA, TIPH and THRE. Beneficiaries of expanded reopening include CPN, CRC, MINT, CENTEL, ERW and BA. The broker also recommends accumulating stocks with good fundamentals such as ADVANC, DTAC, FTREIT, WHART, GULF, GPSC, EGCO, RATCH, EASTW, WHAUP and TTW.

■ SCB Securities recommends domestic plays and selective buying of defensive stocks with fundamental support. Stocks with expected good performance growth in the fourth quarter are BEM, KCE, OSP, SECURE and ZEN. Recommended reopening plays are HMPRO and CRC. For short-term trading, the broker suggests avoiding TU and CBG due to rising costs of production materials like aluminium.

TECHNICAL VIEW: Maybank Kim Eng Securities sees support at 1,600 points and resistance at 1,655. UOB Kay Hian Securities sees support at 1,620 and resistance at 1,660.

NATIONAL

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2021-10-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://bangkokpost.pressreader.com/article/282136409613415

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