1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,678.97 points, increased 10.31 points or 0.62% with a trading value of 65 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market continued to edge higher, led by a surge in DELTA that moved the market around 8 points, while other big-cap stocks further supported the market.
The analyst expected SET Index to move in a sideways trend with limited upside after entering an overbought territory, giving a support level at 1,670-1,675 points and a resistance level at 1,690 points.
2) Bank of Korea ensures soft landing amid high economic uncertainty
South Korea’s central bank governor announced on Tuesday that they would do their best to ensure Korea’s economy with a soft landing even with extreme concerns over internal and external uncertainty.
Governor Rhee Chang-yong also said that the bank will focus on growth and changes in financial and foreign exchange markets while keeping a close eye on monetary policy to maintain inflation.
The BOK will hold a meeting to decide about the first monetary policy of this year on January 13, after a cumulative increase of 275 basis points to 3.25% since August 2021.
3) IMF warns global economy will face tougher year in 2023
The IMF warns that a third of the global economy will be in recession this year as the main engines of global growth – the United States, Europe and China – all see slowing activity.
The year 2023 will be “tougher than the year we leave behind,” the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Sunday.
It comes as the world economy is being weighed down by the Ukraine crisis, rising prices, higher interest rates, and the spread of Covid in China.
“We expect one third of the world economy to be in recession,” Ms Georgieva said on the CBS news programme Face the Nation.
“Even countries that are not in recession, it would feel like recession for hundreds of millions of people,” she added.
4) Apple’s Foxconn nearly running at full capacity
Production at Foxconn’s iPhone plant in China’s Zhengzhou city has nearly returned to full capacity, with December exports reaching approximately 90% of initial plans, the local official Henan Daily reported on Tuesday.
According to Henan Daily, citing Foxconn executive Vic Wang, the plant in Zhengzhou, central China, is presently running with approximately 200,000 employees, which is about the normal workforce level based on earlier reports.
People with direct knowledge of the matter said that manufacturing was nearly back to normal, but company officials remained cautious about the prospects due to an increase in Covid-19 cases across China.
“We expect a peak for cases before or after the Lunar New Year holiday,” they said, referring to the week-long break that starts on Jan 21. “We don’t know if that will cause any issues.”
5) China will resume outbound travelling to countries without restrictive measures
China will only resume outbound travelling to countries with no Covid-19 restrictions specifically imposed for passengers from the mainland,according to the report from ABC News.
The news media cited China’s spokesperson Wang Wenbin, saying that “authoritative medical experts” from different countries had said such restrictions were “unnecessary”.
“China will, in light of the Chinese people’s inclination for outbound travel, resume outbound tourism to countries where conditions allow,” he added.
There are more than a dozen countries imposing measures for travellers from China, which require Covid-19 test prior to the flight and some other regulations. The U.S., UK, France, India, Canada, Japan, Italy, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Morocco, Qatar and the E.U. are among countries imposing the measure on China.
