The price of gold dropped by Bt50 per baht weight in morning trade on Thursday, the Gold Traders Association reported.
As of 9.21am, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt27,800 per baht weight and selling price Bt27,900, while gold ornaments cost Bt27,303.16 and Bt28,400, respectively.
At close on Wednesday, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt27,850 per baht weight and selling price Bt27,950, while gold ornaments cost Bt27,348.64 and Bt28,450, respectively.
The spot gold price moved to US$1,887 (Bt58,971) per ounce on Thursday morning after the price dropped by $18 to $1,890.80 per ounce at close on Wednesday due to uncertainty over the rollout of US economic stimulus measures after US President Donald Trump first called off negotiations until the end of the presidential election but then decided to promote the stimulus bill again.
The Hong Kong gold price dropped by HK$60, opening at $17,440 (Bt70,320) per tael in the morning, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Vildana Hajric, Claire Ballentine · BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS Stocks climbed to a more-than-one-month high on renewed optimism that U.S. lawmakers could still reach an agreement on additional stimulus. Treasuries and the dollar fell.
The S&P 500 rose as much as 1.9% after a barrage of overnight tweets from President Donald Trump advocating a piecemeal approach. Trump sent stocks tumbling late Tuesday by ending talks with Democrats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., signaled openness to a standalone airline relief bill in a conversation with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday.
“The seesaw we’ve seen since yesterday’s plunge is just case and point for the volatility we may encounter as we close in on the election,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investment product at E-Trade Financial. “That said, with President Trump’s call for aid to airlines, an obviously hard-hit area of the market, traders may be eyeing bullish opportunities.”
Some investors who’ve watched Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s lead in the polls swell in recent days are now speculating that a victory by him would bring an increase of federal spending to boost the economy. Biden leads among likely voters Florida, Iowa and Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac University polls found. Tech stocks also mostly rose, even after a House panel’s proposal late Tuesday for stricter antitrust rules to curb the power of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. The four tech giants account for more than 15% of the S&P 500. Eli Lilly & Co. gained after advances on its covid-19 antibody drug.
“People are now talking again about this blue wave,” or election sweep by Democrats in Congress and the presidency, said Marc Odo, client portfolio manager at Swan Global Investments. “The one thing we do need is a very clear cut result coming out of this election.”
Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Sept. 15-16 meeting released Wednesday showed some U.S. central bankers sought further debate on the future of the Federal Reserve’s asset purchase program when they met last month, signaling they’d be open to altering or increasing bond buying.
With Trump now out of the hospital, investors continue to monitor the virus’s impact on economic recoveries around the world. Signs are mounting that the virus is returning to the New York area, with infection rates reaching three-month highs.
“There is going to be heightened volatility,” said Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at Sit Investment Associates. “You have an extraordinary amount of uncertainty between timing of vaccine, when will this current uptick in cases top out.”
Oil fell after U.S. government data showed crude stockpiles increased and gold advanced.
The European Commission, meanwhile, is close to a deal to procure more of the coronavirus treatment remdesivir from Gilead Sciences.
White House lurches in new direction on stimulus talks, pushing for airline aid
EconOct 08. 2020Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin/File photo
By The Washington Post · Jeff Stein, Erica Werner · NATIONAL, BUSINESS, POLITICS, CONGRESS, WHITEHOUSE, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS WASHINGTON – The White House’s ever-shifting economic relief agenda lurched in a new direction Wednesday as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tried to make a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to rescue the airline industry, a day after President Doanld Trump abruptly cut off talks on a broader stimulus bill.
Mnuchin and Pelosi, D-Calif., had two conversations Wednesday – one in the morning and another in the evening – about the possibility of a stand-alone bill for the airline industry, which just began mass layoffs after federal aid expired. Pelosi also discussed with Democratic lawmakers the possibility at a closed-door meeting Wednesday evening, according to three people with knowledge of the discussion who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it.
Two of these people said Democratic members still would prefer a comprehensive bill but are sensitive to the many jobs at risk in the airline industry.
The new effort to fast-track airline aid comes as negotiators appear to have largely shelved prospects for broader unemployment aid and other assistance. But the situation seemed somewhat fluid in the wake of a late-night change of heart from Trump on Tuesday, where he demanded piecemeal legislation on $1,200 stimulus checks and small-business assistance, in addition to airline aid.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the administration still held out hope for such one-off measures – even though Democrats have consistently rejected that approach – and Trump broke his coronavirus isolation Wednesday afternoon to go into the Oval Office, where a spokesman said he was being briefed on stimulus talks.
After sinking on Tuesday, the stock market rallied sharply Wednesday on the prospect of a partial deal. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 531 points, or nearly 2%. Airline stocks fared even better, with American and United airlines seeing their share prices rise more than 4%.
The herky-jerky nature of the economic relief talks has played out over months, as the White House and Democrats have failed to agree on a broader support package. The economy showed some signs of recovery over the summer, but pockets appear to be softening again. The travel industry last week announced layoffs, and the labor market has weakened while the coronavirus pandemic remains a factor across much of the country.
Trump and Pelosi exchanged insults again Wednesday, a sign that the broader relief talks are unlikely to be revived. But both sides did appear interested in trying to work out immediate aid for the airline industry, which has not recovered from the pandemic’s impact. Last week, American and United began furloughing more than 30,000 employees.
The White House’s approach has changed multiple times in the past few days. On Tuesday, Trump called off all talks until after the election. Mnuchin’s outreach Wednesday morning came after Republicans running for reelection questioned – and in some cases denounced – Trump’s directive to walk away.
Pelosi last week urged airlines to wait on the layoffs, saying she would renew a payroll support program either as a stand-alone bill or part of a broader deal.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., tried Friday to advance a $28 billion bill to help airlines keep workers on payroll under a procedure that would have required unanimous consent from lawmakers. Republicans blocked the move, with GOP aides saying they’d had barely any time to review the bill.
Senate Republicans have pushed a package of similar size for the airlines that has less stringent requirements on how the aid will be used. It’s unclear whether Pelosi and Mnuchin could come up with a deal on airlines that both parties would support, especially after Tuesday’s bizarre events that began when Trump suddenly announced on Twitter that “I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election.”
The backlash was swift. Seven hours after Trump said talks were terminated, he appeared to reverse himself in a new string of tweets.
At 9:54 p.m. Eastern time, he called on the House and Senate to “IMMEDIATELY” approve $25 billion in new aid for the airline industry, which has already begun laying off thousands of employees after federal aid programs expired last week.
At 10:18 p.m., he called for Congress to direct $1,200 payments to millions of Americans and said he wanted immediate aid for small businesses.
“I am ready to sign right now,” he wrote. “Are you listening Nancy?”
He was referring to Pelosi, though he also tagged White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and congressional leaders in the Twitter post.
White House officials and congressional leaders couldn’t spell out how the process would play out.
Meadows told reporters on Wednesday morning: “The stimulus negotiations are off.”
All of Trump’s new directives and position changes have come from pronouncements on his Twitter account. He hasn’t been seen in public since returning to the White House from the hospital on Monday evening.
“It’s hard to see any clear, sane path on what he’s doing, but the fact is he saw the political downside of his statement of walking away from the negotiations,” Pelosi said Wednesday in an appearance on “The View.” “He’s rebounding from a terrible mistake he made yesterday, and the Republicans in Congress are going down the drain with him on that.”
Pelosi also questioned publicly whether the steroids Trump is taking as he battles coronavirus might be affecting his cognition, a notion she’d floated privately to Democratic lawmakers Tuesday. “Also if you have the coronavirus it has an impact as well. So the combination is something that should be viewed,” Pelosi said on “The View.”
The House speaker said there should be “an intervention” by people around the president because “something’s wrong.”
Democrats have for months rejected the idea of passing stimulus funding on a piecemeal basis, instead insisting on one comprehensive package to aid the economy, although Pelosi has suggested Congress could act first to help the airline industry. The president’s demands Tuesday night also left out addressing the expiration of additional federal unemployment benefits for tens of millions of jobless Americans.
Meanwhile, lawmakers reacted strongly to the called-off negotiations. The Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group that proposed a $1.5 trillion stimulus package, called for a resumption in negotiations, while Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., a House member in a difficult reelection race, said he disagreed with the president and would “strongly urge” Trump to rethink the decision.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally who is also in a tough reelection fight, wrote on Twitter Wednesday that Trump should look at the Problem Solvers proposal. “It has many good things for individuals and businesses,” Graham wrote.
White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told CNBC on Wednesday that there was a “low probability” of approving additional legislation in time for the election but reiterated the call for passing piecemeal legislation.
“We’ve only got four weeks to the election, and we have a justice of the Supreme Court to get passed. It’s too close to the election – not enough time to get stuff done at this stage in the game,” Kudlow said. “What the president was saying is, ‘We’re too far apart for a gigantic bill.’ “
The president has long sought an additional stimulus package ahead of the Nov. 3 election, and it remained unclear exactly why he suddenly gave up on talks, although Republicans have been skeptical all along of whether Pelosi would agree to anything that would be widely acceptable to the GOP. On a phone call with Trump on Tuesday shortly before he tweeted that talks were over, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested that Pelosi might be stringing him along, according to two people with knowledge of the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it.
“It became very obvious over the last couple days that a comprehensive bill was just going to get to the point where it really did not have much Republican support at all,” Meadows said. “It was more of a Democrat-led bill, which would have been problematic more so in the Senate.”
The White House and Congress approved nearly $3 trillion in economic aid earlier this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A number of the programs in those laws, such as enhanced unemployment aid, small-business aid, rental assistance, airline aid and student loan protections, have expired. House Democrats have passed two large bills to direct more aid. The first bill would have approved more than $3 trillion in new assistance, while the second bill was scaled back slightly, seeking more than $2 trillion in new aid.
The White House has sought a roughly $1.6 trillion bill. One of the biggest sticking points between the White House and congressional Democrats is how to handle the budget crises facing states and cities. Democrats want to approve a large package of assistance for these governments, while Trump has repeatedly expressed opposition.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Tuesday that the economy could suffer without more fiscal relief, a viewpoint Trump appeared to endorse before he began his second string of Twitter posts late in the evening.
Bualuang Asset Management (BBLAM) said investors should purchase shares in the banking, tourism and medical sectors as the economy is expected to pick up in the fourth quarter over hopes of Thailand reopening its borders and development of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Peerapong Jirasevijinda, BBLAM’s chief executive officer, said shares in three sectors should rise by 20 to 30 per cent, while Thai stocks’ price to earnings ratio (P/E) is expected to stand at 16 times this year and in 2021.
“Foreign investment is also likely to flow into the country if the government’s moves to reopen the country go well,” he said.
He added that BBLAM has launched new mutual funds in line with investors’ financial plans for the remainder of the year, adding that the company is also devising business strategies for next year.
“BBLAM recently launched three BMAPS open-end funds that allow investors to purchase a stake in assets overseas depending on their ability to tolerate risks and expectation of returns. These funds are suitable for three to five years investment,” he said.
“The BMAPS25, BMAPS55 and BMAPS100 open-ended funds are being offered for a week from Wednesday at Bt10 per unit. Each fund is valued at Bt5 billion and the minimum purchase is Bt500.”
He explained that BMAPS25 and BMAPS55 funds will invest 25 per cent and 55 per cent respectively in stocks, while the remainder will be invested in other assets, such as gold, property and bonds which suitable for investors who want to take low and moderate risks.
Meanwhile, BMAPS100 will invest 100 per cent in stocks which is suitable for investors who can tolerate high risks.
“The performance of BMAPS25 over one year and 10 years as of June 30 have been estimated at 3.08 per cent and 4.39 per cent, BMAPS55 4.54 per cent and 7.7 per cent, and BMAPS100 2.05 per cent and 10.82 per cent respectively,” he added.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,263.71 on Wednesday, up 13.56 points or 1.08 per cent, while transactions tallied at Bt52.31 billion with an index high of 1,264.29 and a low of 1,245.09.
In the morning session, a Krungsri Securities analyst said he expected the index to move sideways between 1,240 and 1,260 points despite positive sentiment over the rising price of oil and Thailand’s Centre for Economic Situation Administration decision to discuss measures to stimulate spending in the latter part of the year.
“President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone negotiations for the economic stimulus bill until after the elections and foreign investors’ mass sell-offs will pressure the index,” he said.
The top 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were TKN, IVL, AOT, MINT, PTT, PTTEP, CPALL, TU, STGT and KBANK.
As of 4.30pm, the price of oil dropped by US$0.90 or 2.21 per cent to $39.77 per barrel, while gold dropped by $18 or 0.94 per cent, to $1,890.80 per ounce.
Other Asian indices were mixed:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 23,422.82, down 10.91 points or 0.047 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 24,242.86, up 262.21 points or 1.09 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,386.94, up 21.04 points or 0.89 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 12,746.37, up 42.14 points or 0.33 per cent.
China’s stock markets were closed for the Moon Festival.
The Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO) board chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has approved a study into linking Laem Chabang Port with international cities under three projects, EECO secretary-general Kanit Sangsubhan said on Wednesday.
The three comprise:
1. A Thai bridge project, which aims to link the Eastern Economic Corridor to the Southern Economic Corridor by constructing a four-lane highway connecting Thailand’s west and east coasts (Chon Buri and Petchaburi). This will save travel time by 2-3 hours and can also promote tourism and reduce freight costs between the South and Laem Chabang Port.
2. A dry port project, which will link Laem Chabang with international cities under collaboration with neighbouring countries. The aim is to connect Laem Chabang to land ports in major cities such as China’s Chongqing and Kunming, Laos’s Natei, Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Savannakhet, Myanmar’s Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay, Cambodia’s Poipet and Phnom Penh, and Vietnam’s Danang. When completed, this will add two million containers to Laem Chabang port per year.
3. A project connecting the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea (Chumphon Port and Ranong Port) plus land-bridge connectivity. The Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning aims to develop Ranong’s deep-sea port into a container port to serve shipping routes to South Asian countries, or the BIMSTEC bloc (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka). This will reduce the time and cost of shipping since vessels won’t have to pass through the Straits of Malacca. Also, a cargo transportation system is being developed to connect the two deep-sea ports with a double-track railway and motorway to serve as an economic bridge linking the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.
The price of gold dropped by Bt350 per baht weight in morning trade on Wednesday, the Gold Traders Association reported.
As of 9.26am, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt27,800 per baht weight and selling price Bt27,900, while gold ornaments cost Bt27,303.16 and Bt28,400, respectively.
At close on Tuesday, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt28,150 per baht weight and selling price Bt28,250, while gold ornaments cost Bt27,636.68 and Bt28,750, respectively.
The spot gold price moved to US$1,880 (Bt58,905) per ounce on Wednesday morning after the price dropped by $11.30 to $1,908.80 per ounce at yesterday’s close due to a strengthening dollar and a rise in the US bond yield that hit the highest in four years.
The Hong Kong gold price dropped by HK$280, opening at $17,350 (Bt70,143) per tael this morning, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
More than Bt1 billion flowed into global healthcare equity funds as they gained positive sentiment from news of a Covid-19 vaccine.
From the beginning of this year to September 7, the returns of global healthcare equity funds, such as MSCI World Pharmaceuticals, was 0.04 per cent, Nasdaq Biotechnology 6.17 per cent, MSCI World Healthcare Providers & Services -2.13 per cent, and MSCI World Healthcare Equipment & Supplies 8.83 per cent.
Fund managers have had a positive view of healthcare stocks as these gained positive sentiment from research and development of medicines and vaccines and the US health welfare scheme.
According to Morningstar Research, Bt1.1 billion flowed into global healthcare equity funds. Their net asset value in the past eight years was Bt30 billion, up 11 per cent compared to the end of the previous year from a cumulative average return of 8.2 per cent.
Morningstar Research senior analyst Chayanee Juengmanon said the price of healthcare stocks was currently high, but she advised investors to pay attention to diversifying risks because the returns of funds focus on investing in one industry and may fluctuate more than others.
Tisco Asset Management director of marketing and investment adviser Sarat Chatsuwan said global healthcare stocks would grow further for another 5-10 years, taking into account research and development to cure various diseases, an ageing society, and healthcare trends.
“If medicines and vaccines by healthcare companies are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, their share prices will rise sharply. And these would rise further if the firms were taken over by bigger healthcare companies,” he said. “Also, the price of healthcare stocks are cheaper than technology stocks.”
Sarat explained that stocks in the healthcare group consist of biotechnology companies that conduct research and development of medicines and vaccines, and healthcare facilities and services companies that provide medical services, such as telemedicine.
Even if the price of healthcare stocks was high compared to others and these face mass sell-offs for profit, he recommended investors buy these shares and advised them to diversify 50 per cent of investment for long-term speculation and another 50 per cent to gain profit.
The Cabinet on Tuesday gave the green light to spending Bt62 billion over the next five to 10 years on building six medical excellence centres nationwide.
The strategy aims to boost the country’s medical competitiveness and its public health system as well as reduce disparity in medical service accessibility among Thais.
Of the total budget, more than Bt19 billion will be spent on the project during the current fiscal year, over Bt16 billion in the next fiscal year, more than Bt13 billion in 2022 and over Bt14 billion between 2023 and 2027.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index fell by 3.55 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,246.60 in the morning session on Wednesday.
An analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to fluctuate sideways between 1,240 and 1,260 points despite positive sentiment over the rising oil price and the Centre for Economic Situation Administration aiming to discuss measures to stimulate expenses during the latter part of the year.
“The postponement of US economic stimulus bill negotiations until after the presidential election and foreign investors’ mass share sell-offs will pressure the index,” he said.
He recommended investors buy shares of:
> PTTEP, Top and PTTGC, that benefit from the rising oil price.
> Banpu and Age, that benefit from a rising coal price in response to strong Chinese demand.
> TU, PlanB, STGT and Com7, whose third-quarter performance is expected to grow.
The SET Index closed at 1,250.15 on Tuesday, up 7.16 points, or 0.58 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt56.52 billion, with an index high of 1,257.46 points and a low of 1,249.14.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin/File photo 
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