The price of gold dropped by THB50 per baht weight in morning trade on Thursday.
AGold Traders Association report at 9.25am showed the buying price of a gold bar at THB28,250 per baht weight and selling price at THB28,350, while gold ornaments cost THB27,742.80 and THB28,850, respectively.
At close on Wednesday, the buying price of a gold bar was THB28,300 per baht weight and selling price THB28,400, while gold ornaments cost THB27,788.28 and THB28,900, respectively.
The spot gold price on Thursday morning was moving around US$1,812 (THB60,041) per ounce after Comex gold at close on Wednesday rose by 40 cents to $1,814.50 per ounce due to support in the acquisition of safe assets after US private sector employment growth came in lower than expected. However, the gold price slightly rose due to pressure from a strengthening US dollar.
ADVERTISEMENTx
The Hong Kong gold price meanwhile dropped by HK$40 to $16,780 (THB71,488) per teal, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
While vacations and family visits have come roaring back this summer, one segment of travel is still tiptoeing after a pandemic-force hiatus: business travel.
When will it resume in full? That seems to be anyone’s guess, though estimates stretch as far as 2025.
The emergence of the delta variant, uncertainty around border restrictions and the slow rollout of vaccinations to some parts of the world are variables that make it tough to predict when the old patterns of work travel will return, if ever.
In recent earnings calls, Delta and American said domestic business travel had reached 40 and 45 percent, respectively, of 2019 levels by June. Even with the business recovery fairly muted, the number of passengers at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints was up significantly compared to 2020, nearing or topping 2 million almost every day of the past month.
But while it may be fine for a traveler to jet off to Hawaii or Mexico for a pleasure trip, it is trickier for a company to send an employee off into the pandemic.
“Businesses are much more risk averse,” said Suzanne Neufang, chief executive of the Global Business Travel Association.
Another issue, she said: Where would those travelers go?
“With so many offices not completely open, there’s no place to meet,” she said. “You can have coffee, but it’s hard to show a PowerPoint in a coffee shop.”
ADVERTISEMENTx
Experts say the return to office life, expected in the fall, will spur more business travel. But it is unclear whether the delta-variant-fueled surge in coronavirus cases will widely delay that comeback. Already, major corporations such as Apple, Google, Twitter and Uber have delayed their back-to-office plans.
Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy at the U.S. Travel Association, said the variant has added some uncertainty and anxiety to the outlook. The trade group’s forecast predicts that business travel will reach only about half of 2019 levels by the end of this year.
Another stumbling block: Restrictions keep many would-be business travelers out of important markets – especially the United States. The country is still closed to travelers from many countries, including China, India, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and nations in the European Schengen area.
“Definitely government restrictions are the biggest barrier at this point in time,” said Paul Abbott, CEO of American Express Global Business Travel, which manages business travel, meetings and events for clients around the world. He said the company has seen numbers soar in places where the virus is well under control and workers can move about freely.
“Where travel is permitted and restrictions have been removed and there is trust and confidence in the processes, travel is returning in significant numbers and there’s very strong demand,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Steve Hafner, CEO of the travel search company Kayak – which launched a corporate travel tool earlier this year – said continued mask requirements and recommendations are also working against a return to business trips.
“No one wants to wear a mask on a plane for a long trip. No one wants to wear a mask in an office either,” he said. “As long as masking is out there, I think that’s going to be a head wind for business travel.”
Both the U.S. Travel Association and Global Business Travel Association have predicted a full recovery by 2025. A recent report from professional services firm Deloitte projects U.S. corporate travel could reach a “new normal” of about 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year.
Bill Gates predicted that 50 percent of business travel would go away. An analysis by the Wall Street Journal was more generous, estimating that between 19 and 36 percent of business trips by air are likely to never return.
“I think this variant has done nothing more than to exacerbate the existing situation, which in my mind will never be the same as it was pre-COVID,” said Robert Quigley, senior vice president and global medical director at International SOS, a medical and travel security firm. “It opened up our collective eyes to the idea that maybe we don’t need to be constantly traveling. Maybe we can Zoom.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Those who are already traveling for work say their trips are meeting the needs that teleconferencing tools like Zoom just can’t.
Christine Choi, a New York-based partner at investment firm M13, travels to Los Angeles quarterly or every other month to meet with team members, welcome new colleagues and see product demonstrations. She said being on Zoom meetings 12 hours a day reminded her how important face-to-face interaction was to get to know people and learn what they need.
“It’s hard to expect humans to lean so dramatically on the digital experience and the screen experience,” she said.
Abbott said companies also realize they might need to get more workers on the road for competitive reasons.
“It’s all very well saying, ‘Could we continue to exist on Zoom?’ Yes,” he said. “But is the objective of your company ‘We want to continue to exist’ or is it ‘We want to grow, we want to win, we want to acquire new clients’?”
Still, even the biggest promoters of business travel acknowledge that the experience will be different, from the types of trips that people take to the length and frequency.
Abbott said he believes there will be a more dispersed workforce in the future, which means those spread-out employees will need to get together.
“That will absolutely create more business travel,” he said.
Neufang, of the Global Business Travel Association, said the group has been emphasizing “the right travel in the right way.” She said some companies are linking their business travel comeback to new sustainability goals – for example, cutting back on single-day jaunts in favor of fewer but longer trips.
“Fewer takeoffs and landings: That is better for the planet,” she said.
Describing himself as an optimist, Hafner said he expects business travel to eventually surpass 2019 levels. But, he predicted, he expects to see “a lot fewer day trips and hopefully a lot more ‘bleisure'” – or the combining of leisure and business, sometimes with a partner or family.
“Now you know you can work from anywhere. Why make it a day trip?” he said. “Go more days.”
Choi said she has extended her trips as she navigates covid-era necessities like trying to avoid layovers, choosing hotels with outdoor spaces for meetings and implementing activities like outside coffees and walks into her visits.
“My trips are getting slightly longer because I want to make it worth the strange travel,” she said. “The complexities makes me want to pack as much into my visits as possible.”
Markets wrap: U.S. stocks fall on Clarida comments, jobs miss
U.S. equities slumped after the vice-chair of the Federal Reserve suggested rates could rise by 2023 and mixed economic data for July showed U.S. companies adding far fewer jobs than expected.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell as low as 1.13% before rising to nearly 1.2%, gold pared back a more than 1% increase, and the dollar was stronger after initial weakness.
The Fed’s Richard Clarida said the central bank was on track to begin interest rates hikes in 2023 with a possible taper announcement later this year. The comments came after hints the U.S. Treasury may cut bond sales this fall, and an ADP employment report was at odds with record ISM services index growth, indicating persistent hiring challenges despite improvements in the economy.
The S&P 500 fell, deepening losses after General Motors Co. missed profit estimates, while the Nasdaq 100 was higher with technology stocks outperforming.
“After losing 19.6 million jobs in March and April last year, we’ve since added back 13.1 million,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer for Bleakley Advisory Group, wrote in a note after of Friday’s U.S. jobs report. “I really don’t like to use the word ‘stagflation’ but we have a form of it now, unfortunately, which will make the job of the Federal Reserve even that much more difficult.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 index held on to a fresh record, with technology stocks leading the advance. The travel and leisure sector also outperformed as shares of online gaming companies recovered after Chinese state media toned down their criticism of the industry.
The day’s stock rotation calls the reopening trade into question, Cate Faddis, Grace Capital president and chief investment officer, said in an interview. “The market’s signaling we’re not out of the woods yet. On the other hand, we’ve had a very strong year. It’s rational for the market to take a deep breath.”
With stocks in Europe and the U.S. at or around record highs, equities have weathered concerns about the spread of delta virus variant as expectations for continued stimulus and solid earnings have propelled shares higher. However, risks still remain.
“Volatility has been high really over the course of the past 18 months and I think that reflects just continued uncertainty,” Wes Crill of Dimensional Fund Advisors said by phone. “Now you have the variant strain. Now you have concern over vaccination rates not being as high as maybe some would like to see. And that’s continuing to, in some ways, fuel market volatility, because that just increases the uncertainty.”
Oil fell to around $68 a barrel. Bitcoin rose to above $39,000.
ADVERTISEMENTx
Here are some key events to watch this week:
-Bank of England is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate and its bond-buying target unchanged Thursday
– Reserve Bank of India monetary policy decision, briefing Friday
– The U.S. jobs report is expected to show another robust month of hiring Friday
For more market analysis read our MLIV blog.
These are the main moves in markets:
– – –
– The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 2:51 p.m. New York time
– The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
– The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.8%
– The MSCI World index was little changed
– – –
– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
– The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1836
– The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3892
– The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 109.51 per dollar
– – –
– The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.18%
– Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.50%
– Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.51%
– – –
– West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.6% to $68.02 a barrel
– Gold futures were little changed
Published : August 05, 2021
By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Kamaron Leach, Vildana Hajric
JSCCIB urges govt to lift public-debt ceiling to fund crisis recovery
The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) has urged the government to lift the public debt ceiling from 60 per cent of GDP to 65-70 per cent in order to expand Covid-19 recovery measures.
Ameeting of the JSCCIB assessed that the government should increase economic recovery efforts to tackle worse-than-expected damage from Covid-19, said JSCCIB chairman and Thai Bankers’ Association president Payong Srivanich.
He said the stability of the business and household sectors is at risk.
Citing household debt that has soared over 90 per cent of GDP, he said households need relief to compensate for lost income during this period.
The government needs to build confidence by preparing an adequate budget for rehabilitation of the crisis-hit economy, he said. To do this, it should raise the public debt ceiling to 65-70 per cent of GDP.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) should consider easing its monetary policy with measures for financial institutions constrained by the near-zero policy rate.
JSCCIB also urged the government to allow the private sector to import vaccines freely without having to go through manufacturers, distributors or government agencies.
The Food and Drug Administration should also speed up approval of other vaccine brands without having to wait for the manufacturer to submit documents, the JSCCIB chief said.
He also urged the government to support a double tax break for the private sector to pay for the cost of purchasing rapid antigen test kits and vaccine, including allowing the private sector to help support the production and supply of the high-demand favipiravir drug.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,545.86 on Wednesday, up 5.35 points or 0.35 per cent. Transactions totalled THB66.89 billion with an index high of 1,548.63 and a low of 1,533.36.
In the morning session, Krungsri Securities predicted the index would fluctuate between 1,530 and 1,550 points amid positive sentiment from technical rebound signals and negative sentiment from worries over rising domestic Covid-19 cases and the falling price of oil.
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were GPSC, GULF, 7UP, SNNP, PTT, KBANK, ADVANC, TIDLOR, CPALL and BCH.
ADVERTISEMENTx
Other Asian indices were up, except Japan:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 27,584.08, down 57.75 points or 0.21 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,477.22, up 29.23 points or 0.85 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 14,990.11, up 253.19 points or 1.72 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 26,426.55, up 231.73 points or 0.88 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI closed at 3,280.38, up 43.24 points or 1.34 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX closed at 17,623.89, up 70.13 points or 0.40 per cent.
The price of gold bobbed up by THB50 per baht weight in morning trade on Wednesday.
AGold Traders Association report at 9.23am showed the buying price of a gold bar at THB28,250 per baht weight and selling price at THB28,350, while gold ornaments cost THB27,742.80 and THB28,850, respectively.
At close on Tuesday, the buying price of a gold bar was THB28,200 per baht weight and selling price THB28,300, while gold ornaments cost THB27,697.32 and THB28,800, respectively.
The spot gold price on Wednesday morning was moving around US$1,813 (THB59,982) per ounce after Comex gold at close on Tuesday dropped by $8.10 to $1,814.1 per ounce due to pressure from the appreciation of the dollar, a rebound in the US government bond yield and a robust performance by the US stock market.
ADVERTISEMENTx
The Hong Kong gold price meanwhile rose by HK$10 to $16,790 (THB71,457) per teal, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
SET to fluctuate today amid both positive and negative sentiments
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index fell by 0.16 points or 0.01 per cent to 1,540.35 on Wednesday morning.
Krungsri Securities predicted the index would fluctuate between 1,530 and 1,550 points amid positive sentiment over technical rebound signals and negative sentiment from worries over rising domestic Covid-19 cases as well as a falling oil price.
It recommended selective buying of these companies’ shares as an investment strategy:
▪︎ Hana, KCE, TU, CPF, Asian, EPG and Sun, which benefit from a weakening baht.
▪︎ BCH, CHG, BDMS, DoHome, BEM, CKP, CBG, OSP, Ichi, GPSC, BEC, Gunkul, JWD, Wice, Sonic and NER, whose second-quarter business turnover is expected to improve.
ADVERTISEMENT
The SET Index closed at 1,540.51 on Tuesday, up 15.40 points or 1.01 per cent. Transactions totalled THB69.69 billion with an index high of 1,540.52 and a low of 1,524.37.
The baht opened at 33.04 to the US dollar on Wednesday, weakening from Tuesday’s closing rate of 33.01.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 32.95 and 33.10 during the day, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
Poon explained that the baht was weakening while the US dollar could swing sideways. The baht was unlikely to strengthen soon as the Covid-19 situation in Thailand could worsen, with Wednesday seeing more than 20,000 cases.
The baht will continue to weaken until the Covid-19 situation gets better, which is expected to be in early September, he added.
Poon believed the Thai currency would not weaken below 33 if investors felt “safe” from the worldwide Covid-19 situation and hence did not need to hold onto safe-haven assets.
ADVERTISEMENT
He expected the key resistance level would be between 33.10 and 33.20 to the US dollar, while the support level would be between 32.80 and 32.90, which is the price range that importers are waiting for as a pullback to close risks.
Stocks rise as earnings offset virus, oil concerns
U.S. equities gained on Tuesday while stocks in Europe topped a record as mostly positive earnings were able to offset fresh concerns about Chinas technology clampdown and the delta virus variant.
The S&P 500 rose as Ralph Lauren Corp., Gartner Inc. and Under Armour Inc. gained after earnings. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 recovered from earlier losses after the Chinese state media criticized the “spiritual opium” of gaming and the U.K. was said to be considering a block on Nvidia Corp.’s $40 billion deal to acquire Arm Ltd.
Crude oil pared back some of its earlier losses, helping to propel energy shares higher. Earlier the sector pushed the Stoxx Europe 600 to a record after BP Plc followed its Big Oil peers by increasing dividends and share buybacks. However, a deepening decline in oil prices weighed on the gains as the spread of the delta virus variant continued to pose a risk to demand. Markets had also slumped earlier on news New York City will require proof of vaccination for customers at indoor restaurants and gyms.
“I think what you’re going to continue to see is this continued volatility. For a while, the primary volatility focus was is there inflation or isn’t there?” JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said in an interview. “This week it’s the good earnings versus the variant, and will it pause the reopening of businesses?”
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 1.17% after dipping as low as 1.15%. Meanwhile the dollar was little changed against major peers.
Second-quarter earnings have been robust for the most part, but the months-long advance in Treasuries could point to a weaker period ahead. Traders are awaiting key U.S. jobs data this week to gauge the recovery and are monitoring the impact of price pressures sparked by pandemic-related disruptions. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he could back a tapering announcement by September, if the next two monthly U.S. employment reports show continued gains.
“Recent weeks and months have been a churning and choppy time for equities,” wrote Willie Delwiche, an investment strategist at All Star Charts. “Large-cap U.S. indexes have chopped and churned higher, while beneath the surface (and overseas) the chopping and churning have had a downward bias. Strong convictions about either breakouts or breakdowns have not been rewarded.”
Crude oil fell to less than $71 a barrel in New York. Bitcoin hovered around $38,000.
ADVERTISEMENTx
Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.8%
The MSCI World index rose 0.5%
ADVERTISEMENT
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
The euro was little changed at $1.1866
The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3918
The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 109.06 per dollar
ADVERTISEMENT
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasurys was little changed at 1.17%
Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.48%
Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.52%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $70.62 a barrel
Gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,814 an ounce
Published : August 04, 2021
By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Jennifer Bissell-Linsk, Vildana Hajric
IMF nations approve record $650 billion to aid virus fight
Member nations approved the biggest resource injection in the International Monetary Funds history, with $650 billion meant to help countries deal with mounting debt and the fallout from the covid-19 pandemic.
The creation of the reserve assets — known as special drawing rights — is the first since the $250 billion issued just after the global financial crisis in 2009, with Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva billing it as “a shot in the arm for the world” that will help boost global economic stability. The SDR allocation will be effective on Aug. 23, the IMF said in a statement Monday.
“The SDR allocation will benefit all members, address the long-term global need for reserves, build confidence, and foster the resilience and stability of the global economy,” Georgieva said. “It will particularly help our most vulnerable countries struggling to cope with the impact of the covid-19 crisis.”
The guardians of the global economy have wrestled with the plan for more than a year. It was initially delayed when the U.S. — the IMF’s biggest shareholder — blocked it in early 2020. Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary under President Donald Trump, said that the funds wouldn’t get to the nations that most need it. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., called it a “giveaway to wealthy countries and rogue regimes” such as China, Russia and Iran.
The U.S.’s position changed under President Joe Biden and Mnuchin’s successor, Janet Yellen, and with the fund exploring options for members with strong financial positions to reallocate the reserves to support vulnerable and low-income countries. Still, a global allocation of $650 billion was about the maximum that the U.S. could support without needing to get approval from Congress.
Reserves are allocated to all 190 members of the IMF in proportion to their quota, and some 70% will go to the Group of 20 largest economies, with just 3% for low-income nations. Overall, 58% of the new SDRs go to advanced economies, with 42% for emerging and developing economies. So of the $650 billion, about $21 billion go to low-income countries and $212 billion to other emerging market and developing countries, without counting China, according to U.S. Treasury Department calculations.
The Group of Seven advanced economies in June endorsed a plan to reallocate $100 billion of new SDRs to poorer countries, but the G-20 in July only specified support for a general allocation of $650 billion in SDRs, without detailing how much would be re-lent.
Reallocation will be crucial to help countries in Africa, for which only about $33 billion is earmarked in the SDR issuance. France has committed to reallocating part of its SDRs for countries on the continent.
ADVERTISEMENTx
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously said that from the total allocation, about one-quarter — equivalent to around $162 billion — should be made available to African countries. He has called on rich nations to donate — and not just on-lend — their allotments.
Rich nations currently can use the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust to help channel reserves to low-income countries interest free. Fund staff also are working to set up the so-called Resilience and Stability Trust for redirecting new reserves to vulnerable low-middle-income countries and small island economies, an option that Georgieva has said she hopes will be established by year-end.
The fund will “continue to engage actively with our membership to identify viable options for voluntary channeling of SDRs from wealthier to poorer and more vulnerable member countries to support their pandemic recovery and achieve resilient and sustainable growth” Georgieva said in Monday’s statement.
More than 200 groups including the Jubilee USA Network, a nonprofit that advocates debt relief for developing countries, had called on the G-20 to support the creation of $3 trillion in SDRs, saying the funds are needed to help free up resources for health care and social spending.
“Developing countries need more aid to get beyond the crisis,” Eric LeCompte, the executive director of Jubilee USA Network, said in a statement late Monday. “Wealthy countries receive most of these emergency reserves and must donate them to developing countries.”
Published : August 04, 2021
By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Eric Martin
SootinClaimon.Com 