1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,608.87 points, increased 7.78 points or 0.49% with a trading value of 63 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market was fluctuating, but closed higher at the end of the session while there were no positive drivers to push the market. Also, there was buying power in the banking and energy stocks after prices had been declining to a certain point.
The analyst expected SET Index tomorrow to move in sideways trends and wait for catalysts, giving a support level at 1,585-1,590 points and a resistance level at 1,610-1,615 points.
2) Experts expect a 0.25bps rate hike from Thailand’s central bank in August
Kasikorn Research Center forecasted on Monday that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will hike the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points at its August meeting, bringing it to 0.75 percent.
Thailand’s inflation rate in July rose 7.61 percent on a yearly basis, slightly slowing down from a 7.66 percent rise in June.
Despite a slight uptick, the rate remained near a 14-year high, reinforcing expectations of an interest rate hike this week.
3) South Korea foreign minister to visit China in talks of relations
South Korea foreign minister Park Jin is visiting China on Monday as the country seeks to reassure Beijing of their relationship.
South Korea has been doing well in keeping its relations with China and the U.S. despite the rivalry between two of the world’s largest economies.
And now foreign minister Park Jin is expected to visit China to reaffirm Seoul’s stance on this matter after a turn of events recently that caused tension to rise between China and the United States after Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory.
4) Softbank reports quarterly $23 billion net loss
Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. posted a record $23 billion net loss for the three months ending in June.
SoftBank suffered losses in the second quarter as its Vision Fund unit had booked a record-breaking $26 billion loss in May amid rising interest rates and political instability that wreaked havoc on global markets.
SoftBank’s latest quarter ended with a net loss of 3.16 trillion yen ($23.4 billion), the company’s largest loss ever. Comparatively, the prior year’s earnings were 761.5 billion yen.
