กลุ่มปิโตรเคมี – สัปดาห์ที่ดีขึ้นสำหรับผู้ผลิตที่ใช้แนฟทาเป็นวัตถุดิบ TU – พรีวิว 3Q66: คาดกำไรยังอ่อนแอ Limited recovery, continuing to fall |
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Market today | The SET continued falling, pressured by concerns over the Fed’s continued step up in interest rate, with supports at 1,440 and 1,430. On a technical basis the market is oversold, bringing some recovery, but it does not show a turning signal. The upper bound is limited at resistances of 1,455 and a following point at 1,470. A break above would be a good sign. | Today’s highlights | • The BoT says the baht is the weakest it has been in 11 months, down by 6.75%YTD from external factors, especially the appreciation of the dollar as there is a chance the Fed will keep interest rate higher for longer while the US economy us outperforming that of other countries. • TNSC sees 4Q23 exports as facing risks, especially from global and trading partner economies, and has now adjusted its 2023 export forecast to a contraction of 1.0-1.5%. • The cabinet set up a digital wallet committee, with the prime minister as chair. It will start discussions this week and still expects to distribute the Bt10,000 in Feb 2024. • The Ministry of Energy asked the Ministry of Commerce to keep all oil product marketing margins to no higher than Bt2/litre vs. the current gasoline marketing margin of Bt3-4/litre. OFFO expects the Oil Fund to run a deficit of Bt100bn as a result of keeping diesel price to no more than Bt30/litre until the end of this year. • The Thai Rice Exporters Association is concerned that a weakening in the baht to below Bt37/dollar will cause more harm than good as global purchasing power is not back on tract. It expects 2023 exports to reach 8.0mn tons, below the target of 8.5mn tons; the 2024 target is 7.0-7.5mn ton. • US job openings (JOLTS) in Aug added more than 700k to 9.61mn jobs, the highest since Apr and higher than the 8.8mn expected. • The JMMC meeting of OPEC+ today is expected to leave oil production unchanged, meaning OPEC+ will cut production by 3.66 MMbbl/day until the end of 2024. | Strategy today | Although the SET is expected to rise in October on expectation of clearer government policies and recovery of China’s economy, in the short term the world economy is dull while US and EU economic data are showing signs of slowing, pressuring the Thai stock market to slow and suppress a recovery. Our strategy is “selective buy”. | Trading today | Weekly portfolio: The SET is expected to improve but not drastically, as the overall dullness of the global economy will continue to pressure. We recommend “selective buy” in themes with specific drivers: 1) Speculative stocks: we suggest accumulating oversold stocks with good fundamentals and inexpensive valuation (2023F PER and PBV below 5-year average), whose prices will rebound with the SET – CPALL, TOP, CPN, BDMS and MINT. 2) Speculative stocks in the petrodollar theme that benefit from higher purchasing power in the Middle East as oil price rose 10% QoQ in 3Q23 – BH (more patients from the Middle East). 3) Speculative stocks as oil price stabilizes at a high level – PTTEP and BCP; caution is suggested for speculators if Brent exceeds US$100/bbl. 4) Stocks for investment whose 3Q23 profit is expected to grow with good momentum continuing in 4Q23 – BCH, HANA, KCE, AOT, ERW and KLINIQ. In the medium term we recommend being cautious on stocks that are expected to be affected by El Nino, which will erode purchasing power in the agricultural sector: Commerce (GLOBAL), Finance (MTC, SAWAD), Automotive (SAT, STANLY) and Food & Agriculture (CPF and GFPT). | Daily top picks | ADVANC: 3Q23 profit is expected to grow QoQ and YoY from a steady easing in competition in the mobile phone and FBB businesses and a broader customer base. The ADVANC and 3BB merger is expected to lead to less FBB competition. BCH: Core profit is expected to improve QoQ, and reach this year’s peak in 4Q23, supported by a seasonal rise in the number of domestic patients, increasing revenue from foreign patients and the 10% increase in revenue per capita from social security since May 1, 2023. | Today’s reports | Petrochemicals – Better week for naphtha-based producers TU – Preview 3Q23F: Another lackluster quarter |
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