He said some airlines have even asked for an airport permit to increase their flight frequency until late next month.

Thaworn added that Nok Air will increase the number of its flights to the airport – from four daily to five.

He said that last year the airport handled 1.48 million passengers. The airport is expanding its departure terminal to boost capacity. The expansion is expected to be completed in May.

GH Bank president Chatchai Sirilai said today (February 24) that the bank’s mortgage loans in January rose to Bt12 billion from the regular level of around Bt8 billion in the period.

He said the bank has targeted more than Bt200 billion of mortgage loans this year, thanks to the government’s continued measures to encourage people to purchase houses and the trend of falling interest rates. He is confident the bank would meet its target.

Chatchai believes the low interest rate will remain for a long time to come.

The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee cut the policy rate by 0.25 percentage point, from 1.25 per cent to 1 per cent at its meeting on February 5, effective immediately.

Italy’s financial hub is in virtual lockdown as the outbreak spread further outside China, heightening concerns of slowing global economic growth. Traders are loading up on bets that central banks will step in to support the economy by cutting borrowing costs — a move that would help boost the appeal of non-interest bearing gold. Copper and other industrial metals fell.

Bullion futures have rallied about 10% on the Comex this year as China imposed road blocks and quarantines to contain the virus, delaying deliveries of raw materials around the world and damping the outlook of companies including Apple Inc. Last week, hedge funds and other large speculators made the biggest-ever bet on bullion.

“A plethora of global concerns” has seen traders aggressively building up their bullish bets on gold, Keith Wildie, a senior commodities broker at R.J. O’Brien, said in a telephone interview. “The virus today is front and center.”

Gold futures for April delivery advanced 1.5% to $1,673 an ounce at 10:02 a.m. on the Comex in New York, after climbing to $1,691.70, the highest for a most-active contract since early 2013. Prices are up for an eighth straight session. Silver futures also rose.

The long position in U.S. gold futures and options surged 22% in the week ended Feb. 18 to the largest in records going back to 2006, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released Friday. The rally also spurred the most volume ever in the metal’s call options last week.

Copper futures for May delivery fell 1% to $2.5895 a pound on the Comex in New York as investors exited riskier assets including commodities and equities. On the London Metal Exchange, copper, aluminum, nickel, zinc, lead and tin also declined.

Platinum and palladium, which are mostly used to curb emissions from vehicles, fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Long Europe’s weak link, it now has to deal with a jump in infections and a government lockdown in an area that’s both the country’s financial center and its industrial heartland. Carmaker Fiat ordered all those in affected areas to work from home, while fashion designer Armani closed its Milan offices as well factories in Italy’s north for a week.

Not only does the crisis pile pressure on an economy that shrank at the end of 2019, but a renewed slump could also batter a euro zone struggling to shake off a prolonged slowdown.

Italy’s fragile ruling coalition is trying to ease the financial burden on companies in the region. But if more is needed, it’s not clear where it could drum up a bigger cushion. The European Central Bank’s armory is depleted, and domestic fiscal support would weigh on an already stretched budget. The country’s debt ratio is already almost 140% of gross domestic product.

“Although quarantine is recommended, one has to take into consideration that’s its going to paralyze a core part of the country,” said Raffaella Tenconi, chief economist at ADA Economics. “You are already looking at a very significant hindrance to growth without not much else in terms of stimulus.”

She said if the situation isn’t cleared up quickly, a 1% GDP contraction in Italy this year is “plausible.” That would be the worst since the height of the European debt crisis in 2013.

Recession concerns pushed Italian stocks and bonds lower. The FTSE MIB Index slumped as much as 4.4%, the largest daily decline since September 2018. That fear was echoed in stocks across the world.

Analysts at Citigroup said the hit to Italy’s economy this quarter could be big, even if containment lasts for only one week.

“The likelihood that these measures are extended for more than one week is probably quite elevated, if the Chinese developments are of any guidance,” they said in a note Monday.

The numbers don’t add up for Italy if more fiscal support is needed, but a full-blown crisis could see European Union authorities allow some leeway in the application of its strict rules.

Yet for that to happen, country’s squabbling politicians have to agree to a response. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is already under fire by populist leaders for not acting sooner on the outbreak.

Even before the virus, Deputy Finance Minister Antonio Misiani acknowledged this month that it will be harder for the country to hit its full-year growth target.That goal was already pretty feeble, just 0.6%, or half the pace expected for the euro area. The economy, which grew 0.2% in 2019, was last in technical recession (identified as two consecutive quarters of contraction) in the previous year.

The virus was the dominant topic at the meeting of Group of 20 central bankers and finance ministers in Saudi Arabia at the weekend. Trade and supply chains have been disrupted, and the International Monetary Fund expects lower global growth because of the outbreak.

Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said monetary policy may not have the firepower to help if the crisis worsens. He repeated a view long held by central bankers that governments must step up with extra spending to prop up growth.

“If we don’t see a rapid V-shaped effect there must be some decision to act in a coordinated way,” he said. “We must use fiscal policy because monetary policy is already very very accommodative around the world, and it’s uncertain that we can do more on that.”

Investors snapped up U.S. Treasuries, sending the yield on 10-year securities plunging by as much as 11 basis points Monday to 1.36%, the lowest level since 2016 and within 5 basis points of its all-time low. Bets on Federal Reserve easing this year surged, with futures indicating a benchmark overnight rate of around 1% by year end.

In Europe, the entirety of Germany’s bond yield curve fell back below 0% for the first time since October, meaning that investors may have to pay for the privilege of holding them to maturity. Global stock indexes tumbled, with S&P 500 futures dropping 3%, the most in six months.

The total stock of negative-yielding investment-grade debt looked set to jump back above $14 trillion.

Other bond markets took a beating. Italy’s debt appeared most vulnerable, with borrowing costs soaring above those of Greece’s after the government imposed a lockdown on an area of 50,000 people near Milan, with infections in the country rising to about 150 from just a handful a week ago. The outbreak threatens to weigh further on the country’s already-struggling economy.

“The moves in bunds, Treasuries etc. are all rational moves, with the coronavirus now having a significant impact outside of China,” said Peter Chatwell, the head of European rates strategy at Mizuho International. “The impact on Italian bonds specifically seems extreme – this just goes to show that hotspots for the spread of the disease are being found a long way outside of China.”

The spread of the coronavirus is quashing hopes that the peak rate of infections may have passed and bodes badly for the global economy, which had seen signs earlier this year of a rebound. As investors mark down growth estimates, expectations for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve have also gathered pace.

Fed funds futures priced for two 25 basis point cuts this year, with the first fully-priced for June. Money markets also moved to price in a full, 25 basis point rate cut from the Bank of England in November, having previously not anticipated one for 2020.

Alessandro Tentori, chief investment officer at Axa Investment Managers, described a “triple whammy” for bonds, citing demand for safety, long-dated bonds and convexity-related pension flows. Swap spreads tightened once again in the U.S.

“The risk-off episode during the past 48 hours just adds to a global risk situation that’s been deteriorating for months,” Tentori wrote in a note to clients.

The U.S. 10-year yield has dropped more than 50 basis points this year. The all-time low is 1.3180%, reached in 2016. The 30-year bond, typically favored in a risk-off environment, saw yields touch a record low on Monday.

The rate on its German and Dutch peers fell below 0% for the first time since October while Italy’s 10-year yield jumped the most since December, reaching 1.0%, meaning borrowing costs at one point were higher than Greece’s across the curve. Stock futures from Europe to the U.S. fell.

Yield curves flattened aggressively, with the premium between Germany’s five-year bonds and 30-year ones closing in on the narrowest since 2008. Spanish benchmark securities are on their longest run of gains in a year.

Cash trading was shut during the Asia trading session due to a holiday in Japan. The dollar once again proved itself to be the currency to own at times of stress, appreciating versus all Group-of-10 currencies with the exception of the yen. The latter’s appreciation showed its reputation as a haven outshining the growing recession risk in Japan.

To help model the effect of the virus, analysts are looking toward other major shocks, such as the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001, or the global financial crisis. ADMacro is recommending investors target the bond markets of countries where central banks still have relatively high interest rates.

“Events are moving at speed and for all the bluster from central banks they have shown how quickly they can move when they have to — Think 9/11. Think GFC,” wrote Patrick Perret-Green, head of research and strategy, in a note to clients. “The view is simple – look at the countries that have room to ease and where the pricing of such action is delayed. The US and Canada are the stand outs and the U.K. is interesting.”

In a market that has posted only two back-to-back drops all year, indexes were at risk of their first three-day decline since early December, with the losses threatening to wipe out about four-fifths of the year-to-date rally in the benchmark gauge for American equities. Investors who for two months had looked past every threat to the markets abruptly turned bearish on rising concern the spread of the coronavirus will upend global economic growth.

They are reprising a pattern that has prevailed in U.S. markets for almost a year, in which periods of near-euphoric gains are intermittently broken by sharp reactions to outside threats. Futures are pointing to declines that would leave equities down almost 4% since Wednesday as the deadly virus spread in countries including Italy and Iran.

High valuations may be exacerbating losses. The S&P 500 started last week trading at more than 22 times earnings while the Nasdaq 100 Index’s multiple was nearly 30, both among the highest in decades. Beyond coping with an increasingly extensive human toll, equity traders have struggled to estimate the outbreak’s impact on global economies and supply chains.

“World stock markets are not priced well for a decline in earnings that will surely come as the world’s factory in China is seeing unprecedented upheaval,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist for MUFG Union Bank. “Until investors get a better read on when China is coming back on line, it’s clearly sell now and see what happens later.”

U.S. stock index futures slid, with S&P 500 March contracts down 2.5% at 7:39 a.m. in New York, after a raft of new coronavirus cases in numerous countries outside China renewed concern about the ability of the illness to spread.

China’s coronavirus cases rose to at least 76,936 over the weekend, with a total of 2,442 fatalities. South Korea raised the country’s infectious-disease alert to the highest level after a 20-fold increase in cases. Italy — the virus’s epicenter in Europe, with 140 infections — canceled the Venice Carnival and other events. Turkey will temporarily close its border with Iran, which with 43 infections has the most cases in the Middle East, including eight fatalities.

“The virus spreading to Italy and Iran is finally spooking some investors on what has mostly been a mostly Asian situation,” said Rick Bensignor, the founder of Bensignor Group and a former strategist for Morgan Stanley. “It’s not a question of if it comes to the U.S., but when, and perhaps investors are finally realizing that.”

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% on Friday after a major piece of U.S. economic data showed a sizable hit from the epidemic. U.S. business activity fell in February for the first time since 2013 as the outbreak made firms hesitant to place orders.

“This escalation has had investors reverse their previous opinion that it would be a temporary economic problem,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.

Nomura Securities International Inc. cross-asset macro strategist Charlie McElligott had cautioned in a note Friday that e-minis below about 3,325 was “where things could begin to get slippery.” That’s the level at which he said gamma would flip to the downside for options dealers, so they might add to pressure on the index.

The rise reflects positive sentiment from the Phase-1 deal between the US and China.

Exports of products related to US-China tariff measures, such as computers and components expanded in both the US and China markets.

Additionally, many rising star products continued to grow such as chilled and frozen chicken, pet foods, canned and processed fruits, food condiments, milk and milk products, beverages, motorcycles and parts, furniture and parts, cosmetics, soaps and skin care products.

Excluding golds and oil, Thai exports in January 2020 contracted 0.6 per cent while imports fell 7.86 per cent from a high base of weaponry for military exercise in January last year and a decrease in gold imports .

Excluding golds, oil, and weaponry, Thai imports in January 2020 fell 0.17 per cent. However, imports of capital goods expanded 5.8 per cent , in particular machinery and components which registered the highest growth in 2 years at 18.7 per cent .

In terms of export destination, exports to two major trading partners – the US and China, grew favourably at 9.9 and 5.2 per cent, respectively.

Exports to Taiwan and Middle East stayed on the uptrend, increasing 13.1 and 2 percent.

Export Markets

Overall, Thai exports to most trading partners showed a mild recovery. Exports to US and EU (15) expanded 9.9 and 0.6 per cent and exports to Taiwan recorded positive growth of 13.1 per cent for the seventh consecutive month.

Additionally, exports to China, Asean (5), and Middle East rose 5.2, 3.8 and 2.0 per cent.

On the contrary, exports to some markets dropped, including Japan (-2.5 per cent ), CLMV (-0.7 per cent), Latin America (-4.1 per cent ), India (-5.7 per cent), and Australia (-16.0 per cent).

Export prospects

Although the Phase-1 deal between the US and China has helped to improve the trading atmosphere and partly reflected on Thai exports in January, the global economy and Thai exports are still facing downside risks from the Covid-19 situation, which could slow down economic recovery in the short and medium term, in addition to geopolitical risks and the low oil price.

However, the Chinese government has taken rapid actions and it shows a continued decline in the number of new confirmed cases in the country.

It is hoped that the situation will soon be under control and China would announce additional stimulus measures to offset the economic impact .

Regarding foreign exchange rate , the baht has slightly depreciated since the beginning of the year. This may reduce pressure on price competition in some products. However, exporters are encouraged to hedge currency risk to minimise negative effects from uncertainties.

Facing many challenging factors across export markets, a variety of Thai export products, distributed in various stages including raw materials, intermediate, and final products, and the export market diversification will support Thai exports well in this period.

Moreover, this is a good opportunity to expedite exports of food products when hygiene and safety are the main concerns as Thailand has an advantage in image and recognized international standards.

In addition, market penetration to online platforms is another option to promote trade in response to modern lifestyles ,especially when consumers are reluctant to leave their homes amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanavisit has trade missions to at least 18 countries to promote Thai exports this year, including South Africa, Middle East, Russia, UK, Germany, Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India.

In regard to long-term trade strategy, the Ministry of Commerce aims to conclude ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations such as FTA Thailand-Turkey, FTA Thailand – Pakistan, and FTA Thailand – Sri Lanka as well as to prepare for more FTA negotiations to capitalise on trade opportunities from an expansion of partnerships.

Kasikorn Research Centre said that the baht had weakened along with the yuan and other regional currencies amid concerns about the Covid-19 outbreak, after there was an increase in Covid-19 infections outside China.

SET plunges along with Asian stocks due to concerns over Covid-19

In addition, the baht fell on technical selling orders after it broke the Bt31.50/dollar level. Signs of a weak economic outlook, as well as net foreign selling orders for Thai stocks and bonds pressured the baht sentiment, while the US dollar rose on positive views on the US economy, according to the latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes.

On Friday, the baht had closed at 31.62/dollar, having hit an eight-and-a-half-month low of Bt31.69/USD, versus Bt31.16/dollar reported on February 14.

During February 24-28, KBank expects the baht to move within a range of Bt31.40 to Bt32/dollar. Key factors to be monitored closely are Thai export data for January, the Bank of Thailand’s monthly economic report and the Covid-19 outbreak situation, said Kasikorn Research Centre.

Meanwhile, the US economic data to be released during the week include February consumer sentiment surveys, plus February durable goods orders, new home sales, pending home sales, personal spending-income, and PCE/Core PCE price indices, fourth quarter 2019 GDP report (second release) and December house price data, the research house added.