1) FSS expects the energy sector to drive SET Index after a rise in oil prices
Finansia Syrus Securities (FSS) expected Thailand’s SET Index to move in a sideways trend within the range of 1,525-1,540 points, boosted by the energy sector after a gain of 1.2% in crude oil price yesterday. Political issues in forming the coalition government remain to be the main factor to move the Thai market. The market should react positively if the new government could gradually gain votes from the senate.
2) Republicans question U.S. Treasury of default date transparency
A group of House Republicans raised questions on Tuesday about the accuracy of the June 1 deadline of a potential U.S. default made by the Treasury Department.
House Majority Leader Representative Steve Scalise said that they would like to see more transparency on how the Treasury came up with the date on June 1.
“We haven’t really been able to see a lot of transparency, but it looks like they’re hedging now and opening up the door to move that date back,” said Scalise.
Meanwhile, the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy who has been negotiating with President Joe Biden for several days said that they are getting closer as the circle of issues becomes smaller.
3) Alibaba to cut 7% of workforce
Alibaba is cutting 7% of the workforce in its cloud division as the unit is preparing for an initial public offering.
According to the source reported by CNBC, Alibaba has begun informing staff of the layoffs, while helping them to move to different departments if they desire.
Last week, Alibaba announced its plan for a spin off of its cloud division as a separate, publicly traded company. This came not long after the e-commerce giant announced that it will list its grocery arm Freshippo and logistics arm Cainiao Smart Logistics Group earlier.
