1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,617.21 points, decreased 1.59 points or 0.10% with a trading value of 67 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market moved in negative territories, following a selloff in the electronics and financial sector. However, the market recovered from the plummet in the afternoon session to close slightly lower after the energy sector reported positive earnings in 2Q22. Meanwhile, the interest rate hike by the Thai central bank should support the Thai economy.
2) Thai central bank raises interest rate by 25bps, expecting economy to recover to pre-Covid level by year’s end
The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee voted 6 to 1 to raise the policy rate by 0.25 percentage point from 0.50 to 0.75 percent, effective immediately. One member voted to raise the policy rate by 0.50 percentage point.
The Thai central bank stated that economic recovery has continued to strengthen. The Thai economy is expected to return to the pre-COVID level by the end of this year and will continue to gain traction. Headline inflation will remain at a high level for some time. The Committee assesses that the extraordinarily accommodative monetary policy undertaken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has become less needed. Most members thus voted to raise the policy rate by 0.25 percentage point at this meeting. One member voted to raise the policy rate by 0.50 percentage point to reduce the risk of having to increase the policy rate aggressively later and views that such a rate increase will not significantly affect the economic recovery.
3) Thailand’s industrial mood rises for two consecutive months in July
July marked a second consecutive increase in the sentiment index for Thai industries as the manufacturing sector expanded following a persistent recovery in demand, particularly among key export markets including the United States, China, and Japan.
The industry sentiment index was at 89.00 in July, up from 86.3 in June, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) reported Wednesday.
