1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,562.25 points, increased 28.95 points or 1.89% with a trading value of 54 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market closed higher in response to a buyback after a sharp decline last week. The market received positive momentum from the election rally and better earnings of listed-companies for 1Q23 results. The market also relaxed on the Fed’s rate hike. The analyst expected the market to stabilise tomorrow.
2) Binance halts withdrawal of bitcoin, citing large volumes
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, halted bitcoin withdrawals for the second time in a day, citing large volumes.
The firm said that pending transactions were being processed by replacing them with higher transaction fees. Earlier, the company tweeted that there is a large volume of withdrawal transactions from Binance still pending as our set fees did not anticipate the recent surge in bitcoin network gas fees.
Bitcoin plunged more than 5%, according to data provided by Refinitiv.
3) Japan services sector grows at record pace in April
Japan’s service activity expanded at a record pace in April, a private survey showed on Monday, driven by a boost in consumer spending following the end of COVID-19 pandemic curbs.
The au Jibun Bank Japan services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was 55.4 in April, up from 54.9 in March and well above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction for the seventh consecutive month.
“Strong increases in travel, leisure and tourism spending underpinned another month of swift recovery for the Japanese economy as the impact of COVID-19 continued to fade,” said Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“There were also many reports citing a boost to sales from the recovery in international tourist arrivals and subsequent improvement in new business from abroad,” he said.
The study also revealed that new orders increased at a record pace in April, with the swift rebound of travel and tourism spending being the primary reason.
