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SET comes under pressure from Covid-19 situation in Thailand and Britain (nationthailand.com)

SET comes under pressure from Covid-19 situation in Thailand and Britain

EconDec 22. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index fell by 7.33 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 1,394.45 in the morning session on Tuesday.

An analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index on Tuesday to fall to 1,390 points due to the Covid-19 situation in Thailand and Britain, resulting in negative sentiment for the economy and investor confidence.

“Besides, the index would be under pressure from falling oil price,” he said.

He recommended that investors buy:

▪︎ Defensive stocks, such as INTUCH and ADVANC.

▪︎ TQM, BLA, STGT, AJ and PTL, which benefit from the Covid-19 outbreak.

The SET Index closed at 1,401.78 on Monday, down 80.6 points, or 5.44 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt129.43 billion with an index high of 1,453.88 and a low of 1,401.58.

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Gold extends gains despite stronger dollar (nationthailand.com)

Gold extends gains despite stronger dollar

EconDec 22. 2020

By The Nation

The price of gold rose by Bt100 per baht weight in morning trade on Tuesday after rising by Bt100 per baht weight at close on Monday, the Gold Traders Association reported.

As of 9.30am, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt26,700 per baht weight and selling price Bt26,800, while gold ornaments were priced at Bt26,226.80 and Bt27,300, respectively.

At close on Monday, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt26,600 per baht weight and selling price Bt26,700, while gold ornaments cost Bt26,120.68 and Bt27,200, respectively.

Spot gold price moved to US$1,880 (Bt56,631) per ounce in the morning, while the Comex (Commodity Exchange) gold price to be delivered in February next year dropped by $6.1 to $1,882.8 per ounce on Monday due to the appreciation of the dollar.

Hong Kong gold price meanwhile dropped by HK$190 to $17,370 (Bt67,508) per tael, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.

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S&P 500 slumps on virus angst after European rout (nationthailand.com)

S&P 500 slumps on virus angst after European rout

EconDec 22. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Vildana Hajric

U.S. stocks slumped, joining a global decline as a new variant of the coronavirus in the U.K. and a wave of lockdowns and travel restrictions damped spirits.

The S&P 500 Index dipped about 0.4%, dragged lower by losses for Tesla Inc., which fell more than 6% on its first day after being added to the U.S. benchmark. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rallied after regulators approved a stock buyback. The yield on 10-year Treasuries retreated and the dollar climbed.

The weakness in U.S. markets was minor compared to the rout seen in Europe, where the Stoxx 600 Index slumped the most since October as Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and France closed their borders to the U.K. Travel and leisure stocks were hard hit.

Bulls did have some reason for optimism, including progress on a $900 billion U.S. economic aid package. Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s covid-19 vaccine also won the backing of a key European review panel, and a first wave of inoculations continued in the U.S.

Despite the positive developments, the emergence of the variant coronavirus strain in Britain put a damper on the return-to-work trade that’s lately taken hold. After global equities reached a record last week, traders pulled back to monitor the latest virus news.

“Fiscal stimulus is clearly fading as a catalyst, with Covid trends dictating the direction of markets,” said Emily Roland, the co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. “Risk assets had been shrugging off worsening virus trends, but are now showing some signs of vulnerability.”

The pound pared losses as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered a fresh proposal to secure an 11th-hour trade deal with the European Union. Crude oil tumbled.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

– The S&P 500 Index retreated 0.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time.

– The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slumped 2.3%.

– The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.4%.

– The MSCI Emerging Market Index dropped 0.9%.

Currencies

– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%.

– The euro decreased 0.2% to $1.2235.

– The British pound decreased 0.5% to $1.3454.

– The Japanese yen fell less than 0.1% to 103.34 per dollar.

Bonds

– The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased one basis point to 0.94%.

– Germany’s 10-year yield decreased one basis point to -0.58%.

– Britain’s 10-year yield decreased four basis points to 0.20%.

Commodities

– West Texas Intermediate crude sank 2.8% to $47.74 a barrel.

– Gold fell 0.2% to $1,877,.11 an ounce.

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Plenty of budget to deal with latest outbreak, says Finance Minister (nationthailand.com)

Plenty of budget to deal with latest outbreak, says Finance Minister

EconDec 22. 2020Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith 

By The Nation

Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Monday the country still had sufficient budget to curb the Covid-19 outbreak, following a surge in cases over the weekend.

The government still has hundreds of billion baht left from the Bt1 trillion borrowing under the emergency decree to combat the crisis, he added.

He said it was too soon to evaluate the impact on the economy of the latest outbreak, numbered at 821 cases on Monday.

The Council of State said that of the total Bt1 trillion borrowing, Bt450 billion was earmarked for vaccine procurement and another Bt550 billion to relieve burdens on people hit by the fallout of Covid-19.

Another Bt400 billion has been allocated for economic revival, though this can be redirected to the relief fund.

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New round of Covid infections in Samut Sakhon will cost province Bt1 billion daily: FTI chief (nationthailand.com)

New round of Covid infections in Samut Sakhon will cost province Bt1 billion daily: FTI chief

EconDec 22. 2020Workers queue up at a market in Samut Sakhon province to be tested for Covid-19 on Sunday. Nation Photo by Korbphuk Phromrekha 

By The Nation

The tightening of measures in Samut Sakhon after the resurgence of Covid-19 will cost the province up to Bt1 billion daily in lost business, Federation of Thai Industries chairman Suphant Mongkolsuthree said on Monday.

However, he believes the outbreak will soon be contained.

He added that the government needs to urgently block all access points migrant workers use to sneak in and break the illegal gang that smuggles them in. He said this will curb the spread of infections among migrant workers.

He also pointed out that legal workers have passed the health check-up and have social security welfare.

There are 6,082 factories in Samut Sakhon with 345,284 workers, 23,307 of whom are foreigners.

Suphant said though the latest outbreak will dampen spending during the New Year break, but it will be on a short-term basis. He also said it will not have too much of an impact on the country’s economy next year, given that the vaccine has already been developed.

There were 382 new Covid-19 cases following active testing of migrant workers in Samut Sakhon province, and in quarantine facilities, over a 24-hour period, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported on Monday.

Most of the cases (360) were migrant workers in Samut Sakhon, there were 14 domestic cases in Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Prakan, Bangkok and Tak provinces, while seven Thais and a foreigner tested positive in quarantine.

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BOT responds to more complaints about Coronation banknotes (nationthailand.com)

BOT responds to more complaints about Coronation banknotes

EconDec 22. 2020BOT assistant governor Somboon Chitphentom 

By The Nation

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) was forced to defend its Coronation banknotes again on Monday after more public complaints about the bills commemorating the crowning of King Rama X in 2019.

It was the second time the central bank has had to issue a statement about the special Bt100 and Bt1,000 notes, after last week assuring they were secure from counterfeiters thanks to sophisticated technology and designs.

BOT assistant governor Somboon Chitphentom on Monday dismissed claims the commemorative notes were issued in a quantitative easing measure to increase liquidity for the Covid-hit market.

He explained the currency issuance had been calculated to meet demand and supply in the market.

He also denied rumours that the notes were not backed by central bank reserves – assets such as gold and hard foreign currencies. The central bank had adequate assets to back up the issuance, he said. The value of the commemorative bills totals Bt12 billion, or just 0.6 per cent of the total Bt2 trillion worth of banknotes in circulation, he added.

He also responded to queries of whether the commemorative banknotes could be exchanged for foreign currencies. He said the notes were valid for all normal financial transactions, but foreign banks had the right to deny any notes for money exchange.

On the issue of ATM deposit machines not accepting the commemorative bills, he said the machines would have to be reprogrammed to do so. But people could exchange commemorative banknotes for normal bills at any commercial or state-owned bank.

The central bank placed the commemorative banknotes in ATMs to give people easy access in case they want to collect them, he added. A total of 10 million Bt1,000 and 20 million Bt100 commemorative banknotes went into circulation on December 12. They have been dogged by criticism they are hard to tell apart and prone to counterfeiting.

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SET plummets almost 5.5% after Covid surge (nationthailand.com)

SET plummets almost 5.5% after Covid surge

EconDec 21. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,401.78 on Monday, down 80.6 points or 5.44 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt129.43 billion with an index high of 1,453.88 and a low of 1,401.58.

The index fell sharply after Thailand registered 576 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, its largest single-day spike since the outbreak began.

The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were KBANK, BANPU, PTT, STGT, CPALL, AOT, ADVANC, IVL, CPF and PTTGC.

As of 4.30pm, the price of oil dropped by US$1.95 or 3.97 per cent to $47.15 per barrel, while gold rose by $11.30 or 0.60 per cent, to $1,900.20 per ounce.

Other Asian indices were mixed:

Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 26,714.42, down 48.97 points or 0.18 per cent.

China’s Shang Hai SE Composite Index closed at 3,420.57, up 25.67 points or 0.76 per cent, while Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 14,134.85, up 280.73 points or 2.03 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 26,306.68, down 191.92 points or 0.72 per cent.

South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,778.65, up 6.47 points or 0.23 per cent.

Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 14,384.96, up 135.00 points or 0.95 per cent.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index closed at 2,844.30, down 4.68 points or 0.16 per cent.

Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Stock Index closed at 1,081.08, up 13.62 points or 1.28 per cent.