Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak today (July 2) met with US ambassador Michael George DeSombre to discuss collaboration in the Eastern Economic Corridor’s Thai Silicon Valley project.
Set to launch in the next year, Thailand’s own Silicon Valley will attract start-up businesses and research institutions to the government’s flagship infrastructure project on the eastern seaboard.
“I told him [DeSombre] that we can be a base of production, services and finance in the region,” Somkid said.
“Thailand also has potential in the medical industry and we want the US to be our partner,” he added.
DeSombre said collaboration between the two countries would strengthen Thailand’s economy and boost investment from US businesses.
Thailand has the potential to become a supply chain of Southeast Asia, the ambassador added.
The price of gold dropped by Bt150 per baht weight in morning trade on Thursday (July 2), the Gold Traders Association reported.
As of 9.24am, buying price of a gold bar was Bt25,900 per baht weight and selling price Bt26,000, while gold ornaments were priced at Bt25,438.48 and Bt26,500, respectively.
At close on Wednesday (July 1), buying price of a gold bar was Bt26,050 per baht weight and selling price Bt26,150, while gold ornaments were priced at Bt25,574.92 and Bt26,650, respectively.
The price in Gold Spot on Thursday morning moved to around US$1,770 (Bt54,951) per ounce after the price dropped sharply by $20.6 to $1,779.9 per ounce at Wednesday’s close due to mass sell-offs to take profit after the price rose over $1,800 per ounce on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the strong US economy also pressured the gold price.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index opened on Thursday (July 2) at 1,356.22, up 6.78 points, or 0.50 per cent.
A stock analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to fluctuate between 1,340 and 1,360 due to mixed sentiments.
“The market gained positive sentiment from Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine testing going well, the US private payroll in June rising by 2.369 million jobs, and the rising crude oil price in response to the US crude oil storage dropping by 7.2 million barrels,” the analyst said.
However, the analyst said the index was still under pressure from uncertainty following the second wave of coronavirus cases as the number of patients in the US was still rising.
“Also, the US Federal Reserve’s meeting report stated that there was a risk that fiscal measures may not be able to assist households, businesses, and local governments, which would plunge the index,” the analyst added.
He recommended that investors buy:
▪︎ Energy stocks that benefit from a rising crude oil price, such as PTT, PTTEP, Top, PTTGC, IRPC, SPRC, and IVL.
▪︎ Stocks whose second-quarter performance will improve, such as CKP, Tasco, and STA.
▪︎ Stocks that benefit from the Cabinet’s domestic tourism stimulus measures, such as MINT, CENTEL, ERW, AOT, and AAV.
The SET Index rose by 10.41 points, or 0.78 per cent, on Wednesday (July 1), closing at 1,349.44. Total transactions amounted to Bt53 billion.
By Bloomberg · Rita Nazareth, Sarah Ponczek · BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS
U.S. stocks rose as positive vaccine developments and better-than-expected manufacturing data tempered concern over a jump in coronavirus cases. Treasuries and the dollar fell.
The S&P 500 rose for a third day while the Nasdaq Composite jumped to a record as an early trial of an experimental shot from Pfizer and BioNtech showed that it’s safe and prompted patients to produce antibodies. Earlier Wednesday, equities came off session highs after California and Arizona reported their biggest daily virus case increases and Houston’s intensive-care units exceeded full capacity. FedEx soared on a surprise profit, while Boeing and Walgreens Boots Alliance weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Traders also monitored minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June meeting that showed participants viewing the economy as needing support “for some time.” Fed officials showed no readiness at their June meeting to commit to yield-curve control, but they did have an eagerness to provide more guidance in coming months on the future path of interest rates and asset purchases. A closely watched measure of manufacturing jumped in June to the highest in more than a year.
“There’s this inherent tension between health of the economy and health of the population,” said David Lebovitz, a global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. “It’s going to be the way to think about what drives markets over the next couple of weeks or months.”
The U.S. is preparing to roll out sanctions to punish senior Chinese officials over human-rights abuses against Muslims in Xinjiang, two people familiar with the matter said. Relations between Washington and Beijing have soured badly in the months since the first-phase trade deal was signed, while the coronavirus pandemic made many of its elements moot.
The monthly U.S. jobs report will be released Thursday.
– – –
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
– The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
– The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3%.
– The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1%.
– The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2%.
– The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.1%.
Currencies
– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%.
– The euro increased 0.2%, to $1.1255.
– The Japanese yen strengthened 0.4%, to 107.46 per dollar.
Bonds
– The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased two basis points, to 0.68%.
– Germany’s 10-year yield climbed six basis points, to -0.40%.
– Britain’s 10-year yield gained four basis points, to 0.211%.
Commodities
– The Bloomberg Commodity Index increased 0.3%.
– West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1%, to $39.71 a barrel.
Gold has generated outstanding returns in the first half of this year, rising 17 per cent year on year.
The price in Gold Futures skyrocketed to the highest in almost nine years from US$1,500 to $1,800 (Bt46,465 to Bt55,758) per ounce on Tuesday’s (June 30) closing, while the price of the precious metal in Thailand rose from Bt21,450 at the beginning of the year to Bt26,100 per baht weight on Wednesday’s closing.
In comparison, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index has contracted 15 per cent year on year, S&P500 4.8 per cent year on year and the MSCI World Index contracted 7 per cent year on year. Crude oil has contracted 37 per cent and domestic property fund 16.76 per cent.
Benjama Ma-in, an analyst at YLG Bullion and Futures, said the price of gold in the second quarter of this year rose by 13 per cent, the highest since 2016, and this can be put down to the Covid-19 outbreak.
“We expect gold to rise the highest since 2011 to $1,920 per ounce as investors are choosing to park their funds in this safe haven due to uncertainty over the global economy, a second coronavirus wave, US-China trade war and conflicts among countries,” she said.
“Another factor that is encouraging investors to buy gold is that ETF [exchange-traded funds] worldwide are holding up to 3,510 tonnes of gold, while the SPDR Gold Trust is holding up to 1,187.90 tonnes of gold, the highest since 2013.”
She said negative factors such as mass sell-offs for easy profits may affect the price of gold in the short term because investors may want to hold cash or turn to other assets that are rising.
“Investors decided to sell gold after the price rose to Bt26,800 per baht weight, but bought it right back once the price fell below Bt26,000 per baht weight,” she said.
She added that in the long term, the price of gold will rise to $2,000 per ounce, though it will depend on the rate of US inflation, which is currently less than 1 per cent.
“We expect investors to buy gold if the rate of US inflation rises beyond 3 per cent,” she added.
Meanwhile, Kritrat Hiranyasiri, chairman of MTS Gold, said he expects the price of gold in Gold Spot, which is now $1,762 per ounce, should rise to $1,800 per ounce like in Gold Futures within four weeks.
“The price of gold may rise further because the economy has not recovered yet and the dollar is likely to weaken further,” he added.
The Transport Ministry has secured Bt231.924 billion for the 2021 fiscal year, up 17.64 per cent from the previous fiscal year, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said on Wednesday (July 1)
Of the total budget, Bt186.359 billion will be spent on land transport projects, 16 per cent more than the funds earmarked in the 2020 fiscal year, while Bt33.603 will be spent on railway projects, up 28 per cent. The ministry has also earmarked 16 per cent more for waterway projects at Bt4.867 billion and Bt6.120 billion for aviation projects, up 3 per cent.
The top five agencies with the highest allocation of funds are Highways Department at Bt128.577 billion, up 22 per cent, Department of Rural Roads Bt49.465 billion, up 9 per cent, and the State Railways of Thailand Bt18.108 billion, up 33 per cent. The other two are the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand with a budget of Bt15.367 billion and Department of Airports Bt5.799 billion, up 8 per cent.
“I have instructed every agency to be well prepared for the annual budget bill debate in Parliament,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, members of the opposition Move Forward Party attacked the government for allocating a huge chunk of the national budget, Bt223.5 billion, to the Defence Ministry.
Lawmakers began debating on the bill on Wednesday. The government plans to spend Bt3.3 trillion, 3.1 per cent higher than the budget for the current fiscal year, which comes to an end on September 30. The government plans to continually run fiscal deficit , or Bt623 billion shortfall from expected revenue, representing about 4 per cent of the GDP as the government aims to boost the economy that has been severely affected by the Covid-19 fallout.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose 10.41 points or 0.78 per cent, closing at 1,349.44 today (July 1), while total transactions stood at Bt53.380 billion with an index high of 1,350.16 and a low of 1,331.60.
In the morning session, an analyst at Krungsri Securities said he expected the index to fluctuate between 1,330 and 1,350 as there were no new factors to boost investment. “The market won positive sentiment from strong US economic data as the US housing price index rose 4.7 per cent year on year in April, while US consumer confidence index rose to 98.1 in June,” he said.
“However, the index is still under pressure from uncertainty over a second wave of coronavirus infections, as the number of new cases in the US is still rising.”
The top 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were STA, PTT, BAM, KCE, PTTEP, CPALL, GULF, ADVANC, AOT, and KBANK.
As of 4.30pm, the price of crude oil rose by US$1.25 or 3.18 per cent to $40.52 per barrel, while gold prose by $4.20 or 0.23 per cent, to $1,804.70 per ounce.
Changes in other Asian indices were mixed:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 22,121.73, down 166.41 points, or 0.75 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,025.98, up 41.31 points, or 1.38 per cent, while Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 12,112.96, up 120.62 points, or 1.01 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,106.70, down 1.63 points, or 0.077 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 11,703.42, up 82.18 points, or 0.71 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was closed due to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day.
The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking revised its forecast for Thailand’s economic growth on Wednesday (July 1), bringing it down from between -3 and -5 per cent to between -5 and -8 per cent.
It also brought its forecast for export expansion down to -7 to -10 per cent from its earlier prediction of -5 to -10 per cent.
Predee Daochai, the committee’s chairman, said that despite the gradual easing of lockdown measures, the purchasing power of households and the business sector is still weak. Also, he said, the export and tourism sectors are still under pressure from the shrinking global economy and the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He went on to say that the Thai economy will continue facing uncertainty in the second half due to escalating infections. Also, trade wars between the US and other countries, coupled with a strengthening baht, is also putting pressure on Thailand’s export and manufacturing sectors.
The committee has also voiced concerns about the baht appreciating faster than its regional peers in June. The Thai currency is expected to strengthen further.
The price of gold rose by Bt200 per baht weight during Wednesday’s (July 1) morning trade, the Gold Traders Association said.
As of 9.24am, the buying price for gold bars was Bt26,000 per baht weight, and selling price Bt26,100, while gold ornaments could be bought for Bt25,529.44 and sold at Bt26,600.
At closing on Tuesday, the buying price of gold bars was Bt25,800 per baht weight and selling price Bt25,900, while gold ornaments were going for Bt25,332.36 and Bt26,400, respectively.
On Wednesday morning, the Gold Spot Index moved to around US$1,782 (Bt55,168) per ounce after the price rose by $19.3 to $1,800.5 per ounce at Tuesday’s closing, the highest since September 2011.
Gold is gaining because investors are continuing to buy the metal as a safe-haven asset amid uncertainty over a second wave of Covid-19 infections and a weakening dollar.
Fifteen Asia-Pacific countries will sign the RCEP trade pact by the end of 2020 but India will not be among them, the Commerce Ministry has confirmed.
However, members of the Regional Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) last week opened the way for India to return to negotiations without having to start the process anew, said Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the ministry’s Department of Trade Negotiations.
He was speaking after last week’s RCEP teleconference between ministers for all 10 Asean countries and their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
India withdrew from the announcement of successful negotiations during the RCEP summit hosted by Thailand at the end of 2019, sparking concern that the Asian giant’s trade deficit with RCEP member countries could grow.
“When refining of the agreement’s legal language is completed, every member-country must prepare for the signing. Thai negotiators will request approval from the Cabinet before signing the agreement. Then, it will be put to the House of Representatives for another approval. To be implemented, the pact requires agreement from more than half of Asean members and more than half of the negotiating parties. We expect the pact to come into force in the middle of 2021.” said Auramon.
She added that the RCEP will become the largest free trade agreement (FTA) in the world. RCEP members have a combined population of nearly 3.6 billion people or 48.1 per cent of the world population. In 2019, RCEP members had a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of over US$28.5 trillion or 32.7 per cent of global GDP, with total trade value of more than $11.2 trillion or 29.5 per cent of world trade value.
Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob
