SET Slumps 33pts at the Opening Bell over Fears of 2nd Wave Pandemic in the U.S.

SET Index fell 33.77 points or 2.42% right after the opening bell to open at 1,363.00 points with a trading value of 7.17 billion baht.

 

Finansia Syrus Securities (FSS) expected the index to decline within the support level at 1,360 points from the negativity in the market, causing fund flow to seek safe assets instead such as dollars and gold. FSS noted that the market was concerned over the Fed’s statement of maintaining the policy rate through 2022, which could imply that the economy will not be fully recovered until then. Meanwhile, the market was also cautious about the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic in the U.S. after seeing an uptick in new cases.

 

Krungsri Securities (KSS) expected SET Index to challenge the support level at 1,350-1,365 points over the worries of the second wave of coronavirus and the gloomy economic outlook from the Fed after forecasting a 6.5% contraction in U.S. 2020 GDP.

 

Overnight, Dow Jones dropped 1,861.82 points or 6.9% to close at 25,128.17 points, while S&P 500 fell 5.89% and Nasdaq saw a 5.27% drop after reaching its all-time high in the previous session.

The retreat came after the Fed’s Chairman Jerome Powell affirmed of maintaining the policy rates at 0-0.25% through 2022, raising concerns of the slow economic recovery in the U.S. Moreover, the U.S. coronavirus cases just surpassed 2 million with 112,834 deaths, holding the record of most infections and deaths in the world. Meanwhile, 18 states in the U.S. are seeing an uptick of new cases, causing concerns of the second wave amid mass protest in the nation.