1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,634.27 points, decreased 18.45 points or 1.12% with a trading value of 67 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market declined sharply in response to the disappointment of 2022 earnings results that came out lower than expected, especially CPALL that led to a selloff.
The market was also pressured by the selloff in the energy and banking sector that foreign investors have a majority stake in. Meanwhile, Fed’s longer rate hike cycle remained a concern to the market.
Still, the analyst expected the market to bounce back next week after a series of decline this week.
2) German economy falls 0.4% in fourth quarter, worse than expected
Germany’s economy in the fourth quarter fell by 0.4%, indicating that the contraction was more severe than expected in the last three months of 2022 due to the high inflation and energy crisis that had affected household consumption and capital investment.
In the third quarter of 2022, GDP had a slight increase of 0.5%, compared with the previous three months.
3) Japan’s consumer price index rises 4.2% in January
With corporations passing on increased costs to consumers, core consumer inflation in Japan hit a fresh 41-year high in January, according to data released on Friday, keeping the pressure on the central bank to wind down its massive stimulus program.
Excluding highly volatile fresh food but including energy costs, the national core consumer price index (CPI) increased 4.2% in January from a year earlier, which was in line with the median market prediction.
The report highlights the challenge faced by policymakers as people are slammed by growing gasoline and daily need prices, but many have not seen salary increases sufficient to offset the greater cost of living.
According to the data, the annual increase in the core CPI was 4.3%, while the CPI excluding fresh food and energy prices increased by 3.2%.
4) New BOJ’s governor in no rush to shift policy
The next Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda stated on Friday that the central bank’s ultra-low interest rates are appropriate to support the fragile economy, while giving a warning of the dangers of responding to cost-driven inflation with monetary tightening.
His comment gave a signal that the new chief of BOJ is in no rush to overhaul the controversial policy, while saying that there is a chance the central bank will make a move on the bond yield curve control, but BOJ needs to work out the right timing and means to do so.
