January 17, 2009
BANGKOK (AFP) - The Thai stock market will be volatile next week as the market welcomes the US presidential inauguration of Barack Obama but investors expect Thai banks to report poor earnings, an analyst said.
"The market is likely to be quite volatile next week. Positive and negative factors are expected to affect sentiment," said Sasikorn Charoenswan, a market analyst at Phillip Securities.
"The official swearing-in of the US president is likely to lift the index but concerns over earning reports from major banks to be released next week are likely to deflate the market," she said.
Thailand's new cabinet agreed Tuesday to a 3.28 billion dollar stimulus package to counter the economic slowdown caused by flagging global demand for exports compounded by months of political turmoil in the kingdom.
The Bank of Thailand cut interest rates by a further 75 basis points to 2.0 percent Wednesday to further boost economic recovery.
"The index could rise up to 467 points or fall down to 413 points next week," Sasikorn said.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) fell 23.86 points or 5.20 percent over the week to close at 435.20.
