The Thai stock market plunged more than 10 points in early trading on Friday, in line with moves in foreign bourses on concerns about U.S. Fed’s rate hike.
At 11.08 a.m. local time in Thailand, the SET Index fell 12.89 points, or 0.78%, to 1,644.07 points, with a total trading value of THB33,895 million.
Besides a pressure from fears over Fed’s interest rate hike, the Thai market is also facing a selloff in big-cap equities, in particular in banking and energy sectors.
Asia Wealth Securities (AWS) expected the SET today to move in the range of 1,640-1,670 points and continue to be under pressure from concerns about the Fed’s interest rate hike that is expected to signal more clearly at the FOMC meeting next week (25-26 Jan). Recently, the U.S. president Joe Biden has encouraged Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to begin implementing a tighter fiscal policy and reduce financial easing measures by specifying the important mission of the Fed is inflation control, increasing pressure on Biden’s rating that continued to decline and may affect the U.S. midterm elections at the end of 2022.
