The baht opened at 33.88 to the US dollar on Friday, unchanged from Thursday’s closing rate.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 33.75 and 33.95 to the greenback during the day, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool predicted.
The market is in a risk-on state because investors are hoping that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 will not be worse than the Delta variant even it might spread quicker. They also believed that the current vaccine might work against the Omicron variant.
The price of gold rose by THB50 in morning trade on Friday.
A9.25am report from the Gold Traders Association showed the buying price of gold bar at THB28,400 per baht weight and selling price at THB28,500, while the buying and selling price of gold ornaments is THB27,894.40 and THB29,000, respectively.
At close on Thursday, the buying price of gold bar was THB28,350 per baht weight and selling price THB28,450, while gold ornaments were THB27,833.76 and THB28,950, respectively.
The spot gold price on Friday morning was moving around US$1,772 (THB60,070) per ounce after Comex gold at close on Thursday crashed by $21.6, hit the lowest level in more than 7 weeks to $1,762.7 per ounce due to pressure from the forecast that The US Federal Reserve (Fed) may raise interest rates sooner than expected. In addition, the fading concerns over the Covid-19 Omicron variant was also another pressure to sell gold as a safe-haven asset.
Krungsri Securities forecast the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index on Friday (December 3) would fluctuate between 1,585-1,600 points.
It said the index gained positive sentiment from the US House lawmakers on Thursday adopted a bipartisan bill to fund the government into early next year.
“However, uncertainty over Omicron Covid-19 variant, US Federal Reserve’s signal to end quantitative easing programme and mass sell-offs of shares to deal with risks during three days holiday would pressure the index,” Krungsri Securities said.
It also recommended buying of the following companies’ shares as an investment strategy: ▪︎ COM7, SYNEX, BCH, CHG and MEGA, which benefit from the Covid-19 crisis. ▪︎ HANA, KCE, TU, ASIAN, EPG and XO, which benefit from the weakening baht.
Stocks pushed higher after the biggest back-to-back selloff since October 2020 as dip buyers scooped up some of the hardest-hit shares. Treasuries retreated.
Companies that stand to benefit the most from an economic rebound led gains in the S&P 500, with small caps and travel stocks surging. Trading volume in the gauge was 30% above the average of the past month. Boeing jumped as China was on the cusp of lifting a nearly three-year grounding of the 737 Max plane. Tech underperformed as Bloomberg News reported that Apple Inc. told its component suppliers demand for the iPhone 13 lineup has weakened.
Volatility has gripped financial markets this week, stirred by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish tone and the spread of the omicron coronavirus strain. The turmoil may offer investors a chance to position for a trend reversal in reopening and commodity trades, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists. While it’s likely that the variant is more transmissible, early reports suggest it may also be less deadly, they added.
“What we’re seeing is the propensity to buy the dip,” said Aoifinn Devitt, chief investment officer at Moneta Group. “And why are we buying the dip? Because there’s just so much money sitting on the sidelines. Even though these short bouts of volatility are surprising and certainly have sent a chill through markets, we still have a significant bank of equity returns to enjoy year to date.”
Traders continued to assess the latest developments on the new coronavirus strain, with a growing chorus of companies and officials seeking to reassure the public about vaccinations. Novavax said it’s developing an omicron-specific vaccine construct, while a Pfizer executive expects its shot to hold up against the variant.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that it’s the Fed’s job to avert any wage-price spiral, and that she understands the “reasoning” behind the central bank’s plans to scale back its asset purchases. Wage and price behavior will be the key signs to watch to detect whether the U.S. economy is “overheating,” she added, speaking virtually on Thursday to a conference organized by Reuters.
Bond traders have slashed their inflation expectations, putting the so-called breakeven rate for Treasuries linked to consumer-price gains over the next five years on track for its biggest one-week drop since the early months of the Covid pandemic.
Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by less than forecast last week, suggesting additional progress in the job market. The figures come a day before the monthly employment report, which is projected to show payrolls increased by 546,000 in November.
The swoon in the S&P 500 in the last two days depressed one measure of its breadth to a level that has coincided with bargain hunting and a recovery in the gauge. The measure is the proportion of stocks trading above the 50-day simple moving average.
Elsewhere, oil whipsawed after OPEC and its allies said they will proceed with their next oil-production hike, but could revisit the decision at any moment as the risk to demand from the omicron variant of Covid-19 becomes clearer.
Stocks:
– The S&P 500 rose 1.7% as of 12:33 p.m. New York time.
– The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1%.
– The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.9%.
– The MSCI World index rose 0.9%.
– The Russell 2000 Index rose 2.3%.
Currencies:
– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
– The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1298.
– The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3304.
– The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 113.22 per dollar.
Bonds:
– The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 1.46%.
– Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.37%.
– Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.81%.
Commodities:
– West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.3% to $67.10 a barrel.
Oil emerged higher from a volatile morning after OPEC and its partners left themselves room to quickly adjust output plans if the pandemic drastically changes the market.
West Texas Intermediate was about 1% higher after earlier falling as much as 4.8% on Wednesday. Futures recovered from their steep plunge after the group said it was keeping its meeting open to adjust plans on short notice if necessary. It’s an unusual step that underscores the uncertain outlook amid a resurgent pandemic.
Traders had widely expected OPEC+ to defer the 400,000 barrel a day supply increase with concern growing that the omicron coronavirus variant will hurt demand. Prices have plunged into a bear market in recent days, and as the group met, Germany announced strict coronavirus curbs, underscoring the risk to demand.
“The genius move was keeping this meeting open,” Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “You will not be brave enough to sell against that.”
Oil has dropped more than 20% since late October on a White House-led coordinated reserves release and, more recently, the new virus variant. An increasingly hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve is also weighing on the growth outlook for the U.S. economy. A major, as yet unanswered, question is whether existing virus drugs will work against omicron.
Still, there are those who think oil’s drop has been overdone. Goldman Sachs said prices have “far overshot” the impact of omicron. Bank of America said it was sticking to its $85-a-barrel forecast in 2022, with possible surges past $100 if air travel rebounds.
The recent selloff in prices has stretched all the way along the futures curve. The key Dec.-Red-Dec. spread, a gauge used by traders to bet on the health of the market, is at its weakest since February. Options markets have been roiled too, with volatility soaring to its highest since May last year.
WTI for January delivery rose 43 cents to $66 a barrel as of 1:06 p.m. in New York. Brent for February settlement rose 30 cents to $69.17 a barrel.
As OPEC+ gathers, there are continued negotiations around the revival of the Iran nuclear deal. Officials from the country presented proposals for the process of sanctions removal, local media said, though there remains little sign of an imminent deal to return supply to the market.
The U.S., meanwhile, is sticking to its guns on the reserves sale. There are no plans to change the timing or amount of the announced release of 50 million barrels, the Energy Department said in a statement.
The government is now trying to balance both epidemic prevention and economic measures and if the epidemic situation worsens, at least THB250 billion will be borrowed under a special loan decree to tackle the crisis, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Thursday.
He said information about the new Covid-19 Omicron variant is very sketchy and the first move by the government is to prevent the virus from entering the country and spreading.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has urged more intensive measures, such as screening tourists entering Thailand by using the RT-PCR method instead of antigen test kits.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,591.84 on Thursday, up 1.03 points or 0.06 per cent. Transactions totalled 67.06 billion baht with an index high of 1,592.00 and a low of 1,580.08.
The index rose for two consecutive days after rising by 22.12 points or 1.41 per cent on Wednesday.
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were KBANK, SCB, PTT, ADVANC, AOT, CPALL, EA, SABUY, BBL and PTTEP.
Other Asian indices were mixed:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 27,753.37, down 182.25 points or 0.65 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite closed at 3,573.84, down 3.05 points or 0.085 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component closed at 14,765.56, down 28.69 points or 0.19 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 23,788.93, up 130.01 points or 0.55 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,945.27, up 45.55 points or 1.57 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 17,724.88, up 138.89 points or 0.79 per cent.
Fifth-generation technology would be a game-changer and enabler for the Thai economy, Total Access Communication (Dtac) CEO Sharad Mehrotra said at the seminar “5G Thailand Big Move” at Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok on Thursday.
Mehrotra said he was amazed with how Thailand adopted new technology so quickly. He gave an example, saying the government introduced the “Paotang” application two years ago and gained 40 million users.
He said many countries that adopt 5G still do not adopt QR-code technology.
Public-private partnership is extremely important for the success of 5G, he said.
Mehrotra pointed out that 5G is built on 4G because 5G is more than just a network, it is a platform.
He said 5G brings the fastest computing power, devices, network services and cloudification into one ecosystem. 5G could also supercharge innovation and transformation in Thailand.
He mentioned that 5G is used differently from 4G. 5G has the highest value in industrial applications such as manufacturing. Dtac is not focusing only on commercial 5G to address this opportunity. Dtac is also using industry partners to develop and adopt 5G.
Mehrotra said that 5G will be a game-changer for many industrial applications, especially manufacturing. He said it needs vision and all types of businesses to think “very big”. 5G also needs expertise or a skillset, which Telenor possesses.
According to him, Telenor was named by the European Union as the leader in public-private partnership in 5G innovation with major global partners such as Ericsson, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.
He said Telenor is a global leader of IoT and smart services, adding that Dtac has teamed up with ABB in automation, WHA Group in smart water management, ASEFA in smart energy and PTT in smart surveillance.
Dtac has also built Thailand’s first private network for analysing Covid-19 risk at its corporate headquarters Dtac House in real-time with Amazon Web Services.
The Total Access CEO said Dtac believes these solutions will be critical in lifting the Thai economy from the current situation: “We are already seeing it start to happen.”
Mehrotra said this ecosystem would have a shorter delivery time, faster manufacturing and reduced energy costs. More new products and services will also be needed post-pandemic and even during lockdowns.
He believed that private networks are the most exciting cases for 5G. It guarantees stable speed because there is no impact from public usage. It also enables edge computing and archives real-time latency within as little as one millisecond.
Mehrotra said 5G private networks have a lot of benefits, especially safety. There have been more cyberattacks during the Covid-19 crisis and 5G private networks offer an air-tight environment, being safer than 4G and WiFi.
He mentioned that the Norwegian armed forces and Atlas Copco use Telenor’s private network because of the firm’s expertise and connection services.
He said 5G adoption depends on mobile services and Thailand’s public-private ecosystem, adding that there is an opportunity to encourage network sharing to increase 5G coverage even faster.
Mehrotra said we need to continue building across the region so Thailand can achieve digital business success on solid ground. He said we need to consider 5G for sustainable development.
The CEO said a great challenge for Thailand in the next 10 years would be climate change. Dtac itself has committed to reducing greenhouse carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Meanwhile, 5G is 90 per cent more efficient than 4G in Mbps per watt.
Furthermore, 5G’s greatest potential is when it is used as an enabler. 4G can enable a 2.1-billion-tonne reduction in greenhouse gas, 5G could achieve much more, he added.
We are entering a totally digital world, Huawei Technologies (Thailand) CEO Abel Deng told the seminar “5G Thailand Big Move” at Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok on Thursday.
Deng said new technologies are forming the foundation of the digital world. It has various characteristics, which are: – All things sensing – All things connected – All things intelligent
He said the Covid-19 pandemic brought about massive disruption and impacts. People had to work, learn, and shop from home in the past one-and-a-half years. Meanwhile, companies and individuals who used the cloud have increased from 26 per cent to as much as 70 per cent.
Deng mentioned that the pandemic has disrupted industries, especially in manufacturing, due to a limited workforce. Companies in every industry have to adopt automation with artificial intelligence and robots to reduce their human workforce and costs while improving efficiency, he added.
He said the pandemic was a crisis but has also brought us opportunities, helping to accelerate the digital transformation.
Deng pointed out that 5G is the cornerstone of digital transformation, especially a digital economy, saying that the formula of connection density (5G+IoT) multiplied with computation power (AI+cloud) is equal to the strength of the digital economy.
He said 5G is not only for telecommunications but is becoming a key driver for economic resilience and economic development. More than 1.2 million base stations have been set up to support 5G, with China being the leader, building almost 900,000 stations in 18 months.
The CEO said countries with a better global connectivity index (GCI) score or relatively better digital infrastructure accommodating especially 5G suffered much less from the pandemic. For example, he claimed China’s GDP would benefit to the tune of €1.9 trillion from 5G within four years.
Deng said 5G is changing the role of new infrastructure. Every industry will come to be empowered by 5G. Massive download and upload speeds will allow smooth transportation of big data by 5G.
He said 5G will redefine digital services including messaging. We will soon be able to use a message to send multimedia or pay bills. 5G will also allow us to see a 360 degree view of competitions and performances. Moreover, 5G with AR technology will provide better navigation, education and shopping experience.
Deng revealed that in Huawei’s factory, all 500 machines and robots have been connected with a 5G network in the production line. It improves production efficiency by 300 per cent while reducing 80 per cent of the human workforce. The production yield has reached 99.05 per cent, which reduces the inspection time from two minutes to a mere six seconds.
The Huawei CEO noted that 5G is leading digital transformation in many sectors, adding that manufacturing, financial, retail, healthcare, oil and gas, agriculture, and mining are major pillars of Thailand’s GDP growth.
According to the Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission, 5G will account for 10 per cent of GDP, or THB2.3 trillion, by 2035.
Deng mentioned that Thailand is one of the leaders in 5G infrastructure globally. Bangkok has ranked in the top ten of 5G experience. The country has set up more than 20,000 base stations and over 4.3 million subscribers have adopted 5G. At the industrial level, Thailand has launched a host of pilot projects.
He said the following steps would make 5G successful: – Infrastructure first: infrastructure is always the first step – Public empowerment: make technology accessible and affordable – Policy & investment: for example, 5G is one of China’s national strategies. The Asian giant will invest CNY17 trillion, or US$2.6 trillion, in five years for infrastructure. The EU, and South Korea are also heavily adopting 5G. – Ecosystem & platforms.
Deng proposed the setting up of a national 5G alliance. The goal is to reach people with more skills, train people for increased digital talent, share ideas and inspiration, and support each other for more technology and innovation for future 5G development.
Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn had previously mentioned that Huawei officials held a meeting with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, aiming to improve the capability to develop the country’s digital economy and propel Thailand forward digitally.
KPMG in Thailand signed an MOU to support SET in developing an online learning platform for entrepreneurs who wants to grow and expand their business.
SMEs and start-ups are one of the most significant drivers of the Thai economy, contributing to approximately one-third of the country’s GDP. It is undeniable that COVID-19 have had a significant impact on the economy, with SMEs and start-ups facing substantial effects. More than 60% of SMEs faced less income as a direct result of the pandemic.
Charoen Phosamritlert, Chief Executive Officer, KPMG in Thailand, Myanmar and Laos said: “At KPMG, we strongly believe that SMEs and start-ups are one of the major foundation of our economy. Therefore, it is important that we build upon that foundation and strengthen it. This is why KPMG in Thailand’s KPMG Private Enterprise, headed by Sasithorn Pongadisak, has committed to supporting Thai start-ups and SMEs. Moreover, we have signed an MOU with The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) to provide the foundation, knowledge and tools that these businesses need in order to survive, thrive and expand.”
KPMG in Thailand signed an MOU to support SET in developing an online learning platform for entrepreneurs who wants to grow and expand their business. Moreover, an additional platform to help SMEs and start-ups raise capital was created by SET, called LiVE Exchange. LiVE Exchange is another option for SMEs and start-ups to raise fund in the capital market. KPMG in Thailand believes that this will bring great benefit to the businesses in Thailand.
Today’s business climate is increasingly competitive with many factors that can contribute to the success – or failure – of businesses. KPMG in Thailand has the capability, experts and the conviction to play a part in helping to move the Thai economy forward by guiding start-ups and SMEs through all stages of the business, whether starting the business, growing the business, transitioning the business and strengthening the business.
Through this online learning platform, we will help to equip Thai businesses with the right tools for success.
Sasithorn Pongadisak, Partner and Head of Private Enterprise, KPMG in Thailand said: “All companies have a business cycle – from a start-up to a mature company, and each stage presents its own set of opportunities and challenges. It is important that SMEs and start-ups are aware of these opportunities and challenges and can make strategic decisions that will affect them positively. Equipping SMEs and start-ups with the knowledge and know-how, whether in terms of developing business strategies, business plan or managing their business, will allow them to scale up their business and be more competitive in the market. KPMG also understands that fund raising is an important step to business expansion and growth. And we, the KPMG in Thailand’s Private Enterprise team, is ready to help Thai businesses with this.”
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