The Thai stock market is expected to remain volatile in the second quarter of this year, with analysts attributing the wild swings to concerns over rising interest rates, problems in the financial system and the risk of recession.
Recent interest rate hikes by various central banks have affected financial institutions in the US and Europe facing liquidity crunches, said Therdsak Taweeteeratham, executive vice-president of Asia Plus Securities (ASPS).
“These problems are likely to cause widespread risks to various financial institutions. If the problems are not resolved, risks could emerge in the US and European economies and they could potentially enter a recession. That would put pressure on stocks globally and the Thai market would find it hard to avoid that pressure,” he said.
However, there are some positive domestic factors. For example, the Thai economy is growing based on support from the tourism sector, private investment and household consumption.
The Bank of Thailand expects GDP growth of 3.6% this year, beating the consensus global GDP growth outlook of 2.3%.
ASPS predicts listed companies to report a combined net profit this year of 1.12 trillion baht, or earnings per share of 91.8 baht, up 12.6% year-on-year. That should attract inflows to the Thai stock exchange and drive the index to 1,670 points in the second quarter, said Mr Therdsak.
Source: Bangkok Post
