#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

SET rises, but escalating tensions between US and China a worry

EconJul 23. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose by 0.96 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 1,358 in the morning session on Thursday (July 23).

A stock analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to fluctuate between 1,350 and 1,365 due to a lack of new positive sentiments to stimulate investment.

“The index would be under pressure from the conflict between US and China after the US ordered China to close its consulate in Houston within 72 hours to protect American intellectual property and personal information, while China will close the US consulate in Wuhan to counter the US move as well,” the analyst said.

“Besides, the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, especially in the US that increased by approximately 70,000 people per day would pressure the index.”

The analyst added that the index would rebound from mass buy-ups in stocks whose second-quarter performance will improve.

He recommended that investors buy:

▪︎ Food and electronics stocks that benefit from the weakening baht, such as TU, CPF, GFPT, TFG, ASIAN, KCE, DELTA, HANA and SVI.

▪︎ Stocks whose second-quarter performance will improve, such as TOP, PTTGC, SPRC, SCC, BGRIM, CKP, CPF, TU, TASCO, STA, STGT, SPALI, AP, PRM, PTL, AJ, STARK, CBG and TQM.

▪︎ Energy stocks that benefit from rising crude oil price, such as PTT, PTTEP, TOP, PTTGC, IRPC, SPRC and IVL.

The SET Index closed on Wednesday (July 22) at 1,357.04, down 19.96 points or 1.45 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt63.863 billion with an index high of 1,382.29 and a low of 1,356.86.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Increasing US-China tensions push gold price up

EconJul 23. 2020

By The Nation

The price of gold rose by Bt150 per baht weight in morning trade on Thursday (July 23), the Gold Traders Association reported.

As of 9.30am, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt27,750 per baht weight and selling price Bt27,850, while gold ornaments cost Bt27,257.68 and Bt28,350, respectively.

At close on Wednesday (July 22), the buying price of a gold bar was Bt27,600 per baht weight and selling price Bt27,700, while gold ornaments cost Bt27,106.08 and Bt28,200, respectively.

The COMEX (Commodity Exchange) gold price to be delivered in August rose by US$21.2, or 1.15 per cent, to US$1,865.1 (Bt58,986) per ounce at close on Wednesday, the highest since September 2011.

Uncertainty following tensions between the US and China and the weakening dollar have caused investors to buy gold as a safe-haven asset.

Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society said that Hong Kong gold price rose by HK$200, opening at $17,320 (US$2,234.40 or Bt70,748) per tael Thursday morning.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Aviation authority expects sector to recover in the fourth quarter

EconJul 23. 2020File photo

By The Nation

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has predicted that the aviation business will recover during the high tourist season, especially when international flights allow the return of Chinese tourists, even as domestic flights are on a positive trend.

Overall, the impact of the Covid-19 has caused all airlines to lose about 70 per cent of passengers because of the reduced travel demand. Airlines must also comply with social distancing measures by leaving one seat empty between passengers, said CAAT director-general Chula Sukmanop.

The CAAT estimates that in the fourth quarter of the year, airlines will see recovery duing the high season. Also, if there is no second outbreak of Covid-19, international travel should begin at the end of the year which will enable recovery of the aviation business.

“Many airlines are now focusing on increasing domestic flights and opening new flight paths to new markets. If the end of the year tourist season can return to normal, overall Thai aviation this year is likely to recover,” said Chula

He said international visitors may have a chance to return to Thailand and the first will be an Asian group, such as South Korea, Japan and China, especially from China who are currently unable to travel abroad. If the Covid-19 situation is resolved and Thailand can open the country for the travellers, he believes the Chinese will be the first group of potential tourists returning to Thailand with high purchasing power as the economy in China is not much affected by Covid-19.

During the week July 12-18, the number of international passengers was 13,422, a 5.7-per-cent decrease from the previous week while there were 845 international flights, an increase of 6 per cent.

Domestic passenger volume during the said period was 510,505 people, down 5.7 per cent as it was a normal working week after a long break. However, the number of domestic passengers during the third week of July is likely to increase when compared to the number during the week before the long holiday. This is in line with the increasing number of domestic flights –5,680 flights, an increase of 2.6 per cent — from the previous week’s 5,535 flights, as more airlines are operating on domestic routes.

International air freight volume in the third week of July was 13,673 tons, an increase of 11.3 per cent from the previous week in line with the domestic air freight volume of 409 tons, up by 7.3 per cent from the previous week.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Stocks climb to five-month high; dollar slumps

EconJul 23. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Amena Saad, Sarah Ponczek · BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS 

U.S. stocks rose for a fourth day as investor optimism over the likelihood for a new spending bill and potential coronavirus vaccines outweighed concern about an escalation of tensions with China. The dollar weakened to the lowest level since March.

The S&P 500 jumped to a five-month high, with utilities, real estate and industrial shares leading the gains. Trump administration officials are said to be discussing a short-term extension of unemployment insurance before the benefits lapse. Futures had retreated overnight on news that the U.S. ordered China’s Houston consulate to quickly close. Shares of Microsoft slumped and Tesla surged after the companies released earnings following the close of regular trading.

“You are going to have that volatility, but people are looking through a lot of it,” said Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist for Crossmark Global Investments. “People are doing that now for just about everything.”

Progress on combating the virus’s impact also contributed to sentiment. Pfizer shares rallied after saying the government ordered up to 600 million doses of its vaccine candidate against covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Treasuries were little changed, while silver continued its tear, climbing to the highest level in almost seven years.

Fresh Sino-U.S. tension including new charges of Chinese hacking had added to potential risks weighing on investors who recently drove global equities to a five-month high. After the success of a European rescue package this week, Senate Republicans and the Trump administration are struggling to reach consensus on another stimulus plan.

“I’m more concerned going into the August-September period: what’s going to then be the next catalyst to take the broader market higher,” Andrew Sheets, a cross-asset strategist at Morgan Stanley, said on Bloomberg TV. It’s going to be “a tougher period for stocks,” he said.

Earnings remained in focus. Texas Instruments dropped after urging caution. Snap tumbled after a miss on its user-growth targets.

Elsewhere, oil in New York dropped from a four-month high on signs of a surprise gain in U.S. crude stockpiles.

– – –

Here are some key events coming up:

– Quarterly earnings gather steam, with reports due from Blackstone , Roche, Intel, Unilever, Canadian Pacific, Daimler, Hyundai and Mattel.

– U.S. weekly jobless claims come Thursday.

– – –

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

– The S&P 500 index increased 0.6%, to 3,276.08, at close, the highest in five months.

– The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 0.6%, to 27,005.66, the highest in six weeks on the biggest gain in a week.

– The Nasdaq composite index climbed 0.2%, to 10,706.13.

– The Stoxx Europe 600 index decreased 0.9%, to 373.44, the biggest dip in four weeks.

Currencies

– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index decreased 0.3%, to 1,191.97, the lowest in more than 19 weeks.

– The euro gained 0.4%, to $1.1574, the strongest in about 21 months.

– The Japanese yen dropped 0.4%, to 107.20 per dollar, the largest dip in four weeks.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Rayong’s 10MW waste-fuelled power plant will be up and running by next year

EconJul 23. 2020

By The Nation

The Rayong provincial administration organisation is expected to complete the 10-megawatt waste-fuelled power plant within next year, the organisation’s head Piya Pitutecha said.

Construction of the plant began last year.

Rayong authorities will begin constructing the second plant next year, which is expected to be completed in 2022, after which construction of the third plant will begin and that is estimated to be completed in 2023.

All three plants will be able to treat 1,500 tonnes of waste daily and have a combined power-generation capacity of 30MW.

The organisation has teamed up with PTT Plc subsidiary Global Power Synergy Plc for the project.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Thai rice exports drop 32%

EconJul 23. 2020

By The Nation

Thailand’s rice exports in the first half of this year dropped 32 per cent year on year to 3.14 million tonnes, worth US$2.2 billion, said Thai Rice Exporters Association president Charoen Laothamatas on Wednesday.

He attributed the decline to drought conditions as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disrupted customers’ purchasing power in export markets.

Another factor is the strengthening baht which has affected the competitiveness of Thai rice exports.

Thai rice exporters have also faced tougher competition from China’s exporters, who have already secured some of Thailand’s share of the South African market.

Charoen added that China can offer cheaper rice as well as more varieties and higher yield per rai.

The association recently revised down its forecast for rice exports this year from 7.5 million tonnes to 6.5 million tonnes – the lowest target for the past 20 years.

#ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

Five reasons why gold has surged to its highest price in 9 years

EconJul 23. 2020

By The Nation

The current surge in gold prices recalls the last gold rush in 2009 to 2011, when the price skyrocketed from $1,000 to $1,920 per ounce as central banks worldwide fought the global economic crisis with stimulus measures.

This time, the rise in gold prices since 2019 is being driven by five factors:

Weak economies: Central banks are easing monetary policy to stimulate their economies. The resulting liquidity injections and interest rate cuts have caused investors to switch from government bonds with declining yields to gold.

Tensions between countries: Uncertainty following tensions between the US and China in 2019 and between US and Iraq at the start of 2020 caused investors to seek “safe haven” assets that maintain value during market volatility.

Covid-19 outbreak: This unexpected factor boosted the gold price to over $1,600 per ounce at the beginning of this year. Meanwhile, it caused the global economy to shrink further, forcing central banks to inject more liquidity into the economic system.

Recently, the European Central Bank (ECB) injected €750 billion into the economic system as part of recovery efforts, triggering fears of inflation.

Weakened dollar: When the dollar as a major world currency weakens, the price of gold will increase to compensate for the decline in currency value. The dollar is weakening because US public debt has increased continuously, sparking concern that the US may not able to repay the mounting debt.

Increasing gold demand: Investment funds and central banks decided to hold more gold as a “safe haven” asset.

Recently, SPDR Gold Trust, the largest gold fund, increased its holding by 0.7 per cent to 1,219.75 tonnes. Meanwhile Russia’s central bank has bought over $40 billion in gold over the past five years, building a huge gold reserve of $120 billion.