Stocks in PTT Group Edge Lower as Concerns on Covid-19 and Inflation Weigh on Oil Prices

The share price of PTT Group dropped in the morning session on May 20, 2021, as concerns on coronavirus cases in Asia grew and the rising inflation might lead the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates that could result in a limited economic growth.

 

PTT Public Company Limited (PTT) fell ฿0.50/share or 1.26% to ฿39.25/share with a trading value of 1,640 million baht.

PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) decreased ฿3.00/share or 2.51% to ฿116.50/share with a trading value of 1,074 million baht.

PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC) dropped ฿0.25/share or 0.38% to ฿65.50/share with a trading value of 642 million baht.

PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Company Limited (OR) closed flat at ฿29.25/share with a trading value of 504 million baht.

 

Asia Wealth Securities (AWS) stated that crude oil price has negative factors from (1) Iran will return to export crude oil again after negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on the lifting of sanctions on Iran, progress has been made (2) The U.S. dollar appreciated. The dollar index lasted at 90.17 points. (3) The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield recovered 1.673% this morning. (4) Lower crude oil demand from the COVID-19 situation, especially in India, which is still highly prevalent spread, making use of refined oil in India during 6M21 down 20%YoY after the lockdown measure, including in Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, and (5) Rising U.S. crude oil reserves, most recently the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 1.3 million barrel increase in U.S. crude oil reserves last week (ending 14 May) in contrast to the Market Consensus that was expected to decline 2.9 million barrels as a result of a 587,000 barrel drop in imports, while the refining rate rose only 0.2%. It also reported a decrease in petroleum reserves. Gasoline reserves were down 1.96 million barrels (886,000 barrels were expected to decrease) and diesel reserves were down 2.23 million barrels (386,000 barrels were expected to decrease).

In addition, the EIA reported crude oil reserve at Cushing, Oklahoma was down 142,000 barrels compared to the previous week with a decrease of 421,000 barrels.