1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,534.84 points, increased 5.60 points or 0.37% with a trading value of 49 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market fluctuated before surging to positive territory in the afternoon session, buoyed by the banking sector as investors anticipated a rate hike by the central bank next week. Meanwhile, concerns over political issues began to ease.
2) JPMorgan’s CEO warns of Fed funds rate skyrockets to 7%
JPMorgan Chase & Co’s CEO Jamie Dimon warned that the current five percent of policy rate is not enough in Fed funds, adding that he has been advising this precaution to his clients and banks that they should be prepared for the interest rate to go as much as six or seven.
JPMorgain’s President and Chief Operating Officer Daniel Pinto said that even with the global and U.S. economies doing fine, there are signs of deterioration.
3) Eurozone business growth slows in May as manufacturing contracts
Business growth in the Euro zone continued to be resilient but slowed more than estimated in May, a survey showed on Tuesday, as the service sector shed part of its momentum, while a slowdown in the manufacturing sector worsened.
A key indicator of economic growth, the flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the Euro zone, calculated by S&P Global, dipped to 53.3 in May from 54.1 in April.
Although it was well above the 50 threshold separating expansion from contraction, it fell short of the 53.5 projected in a Reuters poll.
According to analysts, the PMI findings for the Euro zone in 2Q23 show a healthy GDP gain, although indicating a slower pace of expansion in May. However, the forward-looking indicators have limited optimism, revealing that new orders growth nearly stalled in May and confidence fell to a five-month low.
4) IMF no longer expects UK to enter recession in 2023
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) no longer expects the United Kingdom’s economy to fall into a recession this year, but warns that the outlook remains subdued.
The international fund made a sharp u-turn on its forecast on the British economy, now expecting the gross domestic product to grow 0.4% in 2023, a significant shift from a forecast for a contraction of 0.3% it made in April, which was the weakest outlook among global major economies.
The IMF noted that the improvement in outlook is due to an unexpected resilience of demand, which was supported by faster than usual pay growth, higher government spending and improvement in business confidence. Meanwhile, the high energy costs crisis is easing, which gives another boost to the growth outlook.
