1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,593.24 points, increased 16.83 points or 1.07% with a trading value of 82.2 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market edged higher in response to the speculation that the Fed could hike interest rates at a slower pace for the three remaining meetings this year, which would be a positive factor for the stock market. Meanwhile, an increase in electronics, retail and power generation stocks supported the market today.
2) China’s manufacturing activity misses expectations in July
China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) unexpectedly fell to 49.0 in July, compared to a reading of 50.2 a month earlier, according to the announcement from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) early Monday. The data missed a Reuters poll expectation of 50.4.
The reading in July was the lowest in three months as the world’s second-largest economy faces higher raw material prices, resulting in tighter profit margins as well as an increase in Covid-19 cases, while the country is trying to curb the spread following its zero-Covid policy.
3) German retail sales drop at sharpest rate in history
German retail sales recorded its biggest drop since the time it began collecting data in 1994, falling 8.8% compared to the same period last year as inflation caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and Covid-19 outbreak took effect.
The decline was also much higher than a drop of 8.0% estimated by Reuters.
4) Oil prices dropped ahead of OPEC+ meeting
Oil prices fell more than 1% on Monday as investors were looking toward OPEC+ meeting on August 3 to discuss September output.
Recently, the group agreed to hike 648,000 barrels per day in both July and August, ending its historic cut during the Covid-19 outbreak.
As of 17:50 BKK time on Monday, the International Benchmark Brent Crude fell 1.13% to $102.79 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate dropped 1.56% to $97.08 per barrel.
