1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,592.37 points, decreased 6.86 points or 0.43% with a trading value of 78 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market moved in both positive and negative territory as the morning session edged higher following Wall Street overnight, but edged lower in the afternoon session on risks of revising down economic forecasts.
The analyst expected SET Index to continue edging lower tomorrow, giving a support level at 1,580 points and a resistance level at 1,615 points.
2) “No need to follow Fed’s moves,” Thai central bank’s governor says
The Thai central bank does not need to follow the U.S. Federal Reserve’s moves, according to the statement by the central bank chief in a symposium on Thursday.
The statement came after the Bank of Thailand (BOT) raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.00% to slow down inflation, while adding that the central bank is ready to adjust the pace of tightening monetary policy if needed, according to the Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput.
3) Vietnam’s GDP expands by double digits in 3Q22
Vietnam’s GDP grew by double digits in the third quarter, showing strong momentum after a year of slowdown caused by a pandemic.
According to the General Statistics Office, the economy grew 13.67% in the three months ending in September compared to the same period a year earlier. This compares to a 14.35% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists and a 6.02% contraction a year ago, when the country closed some factories as part of strict virus-control measures.
With the removal of the Covid-19 restrictions, the Vietnamese economy has begun to show signs of improvement, with both domestic activity and exports picking up.
Inflation in Vietnam is still one of the region’s lowest even though it accelerated this month to 3.94 percent.
4) Taiwan will end tourist quarantine and resume visa-free travel from Oct 13
Taiwan has taken another major step toward reopening the country, with the government announcing on Thursday that the mandatory Covid-19 quarantine for arrivals will be lifted on October 13 and tourists will be welcomed back.
Taiwan kept some entry and quarantine rules as the rest of Asia relaxed or lifted them, but in June it cut the number of days in isolation for arrivals from 7 to 3.
Lo Ping-cheng, a spokesman for the government, told reporters that the country could now reopen its borders since its citizens had all been vaccinated and the pandemic was under control.
Tourists will be allowed to return, but they are still required to take rapid tests and monitor their health for 7 days. Other measures include ending PCR tests for arrivals and resuming visa-free entry for citizens of all countries that previously had that status.
