1) Fed not promise soft landing for economy amid rising inflation
The U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that he could not promise a soft landing for the economy in order to get inflation under control. The rate hike could cause pain to the U.S. economy, but easing inflation remains his top priority, according to the statement.
“So a soft landing is, is really just getting back to 2% inflation while keeping the labor market strong. And it’s quite challenging to accomplish that right now, for a couple of reasons,” said Powell in an interview with Marketplace.
The U.S. April inflation rose to 8.3%, higher than 8.1% estimated and also at a 40-year high.
2) Russia to take retaliatory steps if Finland joins NATO
Russia said that the Kremlin will take retaliatory steps if Finland joins NATO.
“Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop threats to its national security arising,” said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.
The statement came after Finland’s announcement that it could apply to join the Western military alliance NATO.
3) Twitter’s share price continuously drops well below Musk’s offer price
The share price of Twitter dropped to slightly above $45 per share, well below Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s purchase price of $54.20. The selloff from investors has created more than $9 billion difference in value between the current and offer price. Tesla CEO would have to pay a $1 billion breakup fee should he turn away from the deal.
4) MSCI adds JMT, KEX, SABUY and 8 others into Global Standard and Small Cap
The MSCI Global Standard Indexes has announced changes in constituents for MSCI Global Standard Indexes and MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes with additions and deletions for the MSCI Thailand Index as follows;
MSCI Global Standard Indexes added JMT Network Services Public Company Limited (SET: JMT) to the index and deleted Sri Trang Gloves (Thailand) Public Company Limited (SET: STGT) from the index.
MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes added Asia Sermkij Leasing Public Company Limited (SET: ASK), Beyond Securities Public Company Limited (SET: BEYOND), Ditto (Thailand) Public Company Limited (mai: DITTO), Forth Corporation Public Company Limited (SET: FORTH), Kerry Express (Thailand) Public Company Limited (SET: KEX), PSG Corporation Public Company Limited (mai: PSG), Sabuy Technology Public Company Limited (SET: SABUBY), Sri Trang Gloves (Thailand) Public Company Limited (SET: STGT), Stark Corporation Public Company Limited (SET: STARK), and Vibhavadi Medical Center Public Company Limited (SET: VIBHA).
The MSCI Small Cap Indexes also deleted Eastern Water Resources Development & Management (SET: EASTW) and JMT Network Services Public Company Limited (SET: JMT) from the index, in which JMT moved to the Global Standard Index.
