Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,323.38 points, increased 20.38 points or 1.56% with a trading value of 62.35 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market surged sharply due to heightened investor confidence, which has emerged following the resolution of political uncertainties in the country, better-than-expected second-quarter 2024 GDP, and the strengthening of the Thai baht. Additionally, the purchase of the big-cap stocks, particularly bank stocks, has also been a key driver behind the rise in the index.
The analyst expected the market to trade sideways tomorrow.
Thailand’s 2Q24 economic growth beat expectations with an expansion of 2.3%, slightly higher than the 2.1% growth projected by economists polled by Reuters.
When compared to the previous quarter, growth in April to June showed a 0.8% QoQ expansion, slightly below a 0.9% growth polled by Reuters and lower than a seasonally adjusted 1.2% in 1Q24.
Thailand’s recently appointed Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, shared her plans to conclude discussions with coalition parties this week regarding the composition of her cabinet.
She also declared intentions to reassess a contentious $14 billion cash handout plan introduced by the previous administration to ensure alignment with the country’s fiscal responsibility regulations.
After the release of the July jobs report on August 2 led to the invocation of the “Sahm rule,” Goldman Sachs’ 12-month probability of a recession in the United States was revised from 15% to 25%. However, as recent data, including retail sales and jobless claims this past week, indicated no indications of a recession, the investment bank has now readjusted the probability back down to 20%.
The Sahm rule is a recession indicator based on the labour market, which is often used by the central banks.
The United States and China have finalized agreements to cooperate on financial stability last week.
The agreement was reached during a meeting of the U.S.-China Financial Working Group held in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday, with the authorities leading the group being Brent Neiman, the deputy under secretary for international finance at the Treasury Department, and Xuan Changneng, the deputy governor of the PBOC.
Key points discussed during the meeting included the exchange of contact lists for handling financial stress or risk events.
