1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,633.36 points, increased 7.45 points or 0.46% with a trading value of 57 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market closed with a gain in response to U.S. inflation in November that came out lower-than-expected. Meanwhile, electronics and petrochemical stocks led the market in anticipation of more stimulus plans from the Chinese government.
Investors will be looking ahead to the Fed’s decision later today, as well as ECB and BoE.
2) Maybank turns negative on Thailand’s tourism sector amid uncertain recovery
Thailand’s currently-booming tourism industry could run out of steam by the first half of next year, said Maybank Securities on Wednesday.
Maybank Securities (Thailand) (MST) downgrades the sector to NEGATIVE following a jump in share prices in anticipation of the 4Q22 high season, which is expected to boost occupancy and room rates. Looking ahead, Maybank foresee challenges in 2023, including: 1) pent-up demand that, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, could wane in 1H23, and 2) continued high costs, which has dragged down EBITDA margins in 3Q22.
3) Binance says things have stabilized after $1.9 billion of withdrawal yesterday
Binance said that the havoc caused by a large amount of withdrawal from its investors yesterday has stabilized.
“Things seem to have stabilised,” Changpeng Zhao, chief executive officer of Binance, tweeted while saying that yesterday was not the highest withdrawals the exchange processed, not even top 5.
According to blockchain data firm Nansen, $1.9 billion had been withdrawn from the world’s largest crypto exchange in the last 24 hours. The exchange came out and paused the ability to pull money out not long after the withdrawal started to intensify, saying that it was conducting a “token swap,” a procedure of swapping one cryptocurrency for another without the need for fiat currency.
4) UK inflation falls from 41-year high in November as fuel price rise subsides
Inflation in the United Kingdom came in somewhat lower than expected in November, at 10.7%, as falling fuel costs helped reduce pricing pressures, yet high food and energy prices continued to pinch both consumers and businesses.
Reuters polled economists predicted an annual increase in the consumer price index of 10.9%, after October’s surprising rise to a 41-year high of 11.1%. The monthly growth in November was 0.4%, down from 2% in October and below the consensus projection of 0.6%.
5) World Bank sees Thai economy to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, but cut its growth forecast for 2023
Thailand’s economy is expected to expand by 3.4% this year and 3.6% next year, but the pace of growth will be slower-than-expected, while tourism recovery and private consumption remain key drivers.
The bank sees the Thai economy returning to its pre-pandemic level this year, but global headwinds remain.
The Thai economy has shown resilience to recent global shocks. Following the economic reopening in May and the government’ measures to relieve cost-of-living pressures, economic growth surged to 4.5% in the third quarter of this year, fueled by rising private spending and high tourism inflows. However, when compared to other Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand is anticipated to grow at a slower rate.
